A Disease in the Public Mind

A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil War

By: Thomas Fleming

Narrated by: William Hughes

By the time his body hung from the gallows for his crimes at Harper’s Ferry, abolitionists had made John Brown a "holy martyr" in the fight against Southern slave owners. But Northern hatred for Southerners had been long in the making. Northern rage was born of the conviction that New England, whose spokesmen and militia had begun the American Revolution, should have been the leader of the new nation. Instead, they had been displaced by Southern "slavocrats" like Thomas Jefferson. And Northern envy only exacerbated the South’s greatest fear: race war. In the 60 years preceding the outbreak of civil war, Northern and Southern fanatics ramped up the struggle over slavery. By the time they had become intractable enemies, only the tragedy of a bloody civil war could save the Union.

In this riveting and character-driven history, one of America’s most respected historians traces the "disease in the public mind" - distortions of reality that seized large numbers of Americans - in the decades-long run-up to the Civil War.

©2013 Thomas Fleming (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The prolific Fleming, for decades a fixture among American historians, pinpoints public opinion as the proximate origin of the war.… Making a plausible presentation of antebellum attitudes and illusions, Fleming is sure to spark lively discussion about the Civil War." ( Booklist)

Refreshing and challenging

What did you love best about A Disease in the Public Mind?

The reevaluation of Colonial thru Civil War history can never be over mined. Thomas Fleming deserves props for this refreshing examination of what was going on in America in regards to slavery. Many questions we face today including the politics of race are embedded in the discussion from this earlier period.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Thomas Jefferson was a compelling figure. A genuinely twisted individual.

Which scene was your favorite?

The Haitian uprising and America's near hysterical silence on the matter.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Truly moment after moment the story was compelling. Reading about men moved from the colonial period to end slavery, and the end of slavery in the north. I was also surprised at how much history is neglected and forgotten in the modern narrative. When you finish this you realize that whole levels of understanding can be added to the Civil War and what it meant to American, then and now.

Any additional comments?

I had the pleasure of reading this, and then listening to it, both methods are satisfactory.

Food for thought from another time of stark divisions.

I grew up in a part of the country where we were taught in school that slavery was not the cause of the civil war, that states right were the issue. But even at age 10 it seemed to be about a states right to allow slavery. This is an enlightening book that pays attention to excesses on both sides. It makes the disastrous misunderstandings on both sides easier to see.

The best there is in my opinion

As the son of a Northern Father and Southern Mother, I’ve never fallen hard on either side of The Civil war. My only goal has been to understand each player in it. Now if you ARE biased for one side, this book might anger you because it will not blame one side. Instead it blames BOTH sides; illustrating how BOTH were indeed driven to a vitriolic fever pitch by “A Disease of the Public Mind”. The only one who seemed to keep his mind about him was Abraham Lincoln. And he— with his genius for timing, was able to navigate the ship of state through & around obstacles like no one else could have. Unfortunately, when the time came for that same mind to navigate reconstruction, John Wilkes Booth silenced it forever; leaving the fate of the nation to vindictive chaos.

Not quite what I expected

So glad I read this even tho I thought it was going to be centered around the American Civil war it does back much further. Well written and well read

Review of A Disease in the Public Mind

This is the best book I have run across for an explanation of why we fought the Civil War. I can highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a highly readable book written by an academic on the subject of why we fought the Civil War.