The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution

Review

"Disciplined, powerful and moving.… [An] important book." ― Lincoln Caplan, New York Times Book Review"Lucid and succinct." ― John Fabian Witt, Washington Post"Sometimes a book makes you reconsider a subject you’ve studied all of your adult life." ― Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent, New York Times"Brisk but far-reaching.… [C]opies of this book should be spread around the capital, because the battles of contemporary Washington are but a second act to the struggles prompted by Foner’s Second Founding." ― David M. Shribman, Boston Globe"The Second Founding… demonstrates [Foner’s] talent at unearthing insights about the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, in particular how Americans defined and acted on the ideals of freedom and democracy.… [He writes] in what another eminent historian, Christopher Lasch, called ‘plain style’: direct and vivid prose without a trace of specialized language, which anyone with a passing interest in the subject can read, learn from, and enjoy." ― Michael Kazin, Nation"As the dean of Reconstruction studies, Foner is the ideal scholar to produce a history of the three amendments added to the Constitution during the period―amendments so powerful as to justify the book’s title." ― James Oakes, New York Review of Books"Mr. Foner makes his case with brio and erudition." ― Fergus M. Bordewich, Wall Street Journal"In this moment, indeed in any, Eric Foner’s new book is uncommonly valuable." ― W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Washington Examiner"With The Second Founding, Foner offers a taut, absorbing companion piece to his magisterial Reconstruction, published three decades ago." ― Hamilton Cain, Minneapolis Star Tribune"[The Second Founding] should land on the desk of every federal jurist.… [It] presents a sobering picture of the use and misuse of history in legal battles over race. But it is hopeful too. Change is possible with more truthful and expansive historical knowledge." ― Amy Murrell Taylor, Times Literary Supplement

Lincoln Caplan,

Eric Foner's indelible works include the landmark history, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution; a bestselling study of Lincoln and slavery, The Fiery Trial, winner of the Pulitzer, Bancroft, and Lincoln Prizes; and an influential history of the Reconstruction amendments, The Second Founding. The DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, Foner continues to write frequently for The Nation and other publications.