Northshire Bookstore Review
Reviewed By... Bill Lewis

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION. Joseph Ellis says more, explains more, and does it better in 243 pages than most other books three times the size. And, as usual with Ellis, the writing sparkles and the insights are memorable. The Founders had opportunities, crises, foresight, and ignorance. They showed bravery, timidity, idealism, and realism. They did astonishing things (thank you), failed terribly (curse you), and in... read more>>>

Northshire Bookstore Review
Reviewed By... Bill Lewis

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION. Yes...it's a very big book. And yes...it's well worth the time. That said, it's also an easy book to strongly recommend. The trend in the writing of American history for the past several decades has been producing (in the words of historian Jill Lepore) "longer and longer monographs on smaller and smaller subjects." Well and fine and of inestimable pleasure and value for an entire genera... read more>>>

Northshire Bookstore Review
Reviewed By... Bill Lewis

This is "small history" at its best; the kind of work that explores and illuminates major historical questions by telling a tightly focused story about an "ordinary" person doing her best to make her life endurable in the face of conditions over which she has very little control. Eunice Connolly, a poor white New Englander, came of age on the eve of the Civil War. Her first marriage provided little if any love... read more>>>