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This award-winning book tells the story of one of the most successful social movements in American history, the grassroots network of men and women, black and white, who assisted fugitive slaves to escape to freedom: known as the underground railroad.
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Beyond the River was selected by the American Library Association as one of the “25 most notable books in America” in 2004. It tells the story of one of the most successful social movements in American history: the grassroots network of men and women, black and white, who assisted fugitive slaves to escape to freedom. The narrative brings to life the struggles of abolitionists and expands the definition of such heroes to include women, people of African descent, and youth. The story is set in a town on the Ohio River that, known as “the abolitionist hellhole,” was a hub for anti-slavery activists, had direct ties to Harriet Beecher Stowe and William Lloyd Garrison, among other well-known figures of the era, and was where Stowe
discovered the central motif for her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
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“Beyond the River is as vivid in its narration as it is scrupulous in its scholarship.” – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr
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“Beyond the River is that rare, rewarding work, a history of such love and detail that it resonates far beyond its ostensible subject.” – The Cleveland Plain Dealer
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“A groundbreaking chronicle [that] sheds new light on one of the most dramatic chapters in American history.” – Smithsonian
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“Hagedorn conveys this complex history deftly and with impact.” –The Washington Post Book World
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“The ground-level focus gives Hagedorn’s story the flavor and fire of an era . . . ” – Time
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“A work of deep moral passion anchored in illuminating local particulars . . . stirring, frequently astonishing popular history: a tale of selfless heroics to ease a nation’s uncertain spirit.” – Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
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“A story with twists and turns, bravery and cowardice, saints and sinners . . . full of beautifully crafted sentences, splendid similes and thought-provoking chapter titles . . . as much a detective story as history.” – Columbus Dispatch
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“A rip-roaring tale of life inside a small and daring protest movement.” – Chicago Tribune
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“Powerful writing.” – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Ann Hagedorn allows us to legitimately, and with historic accuracy, expand the definition of Abolitionist Heroes to include women, youth, and people of African descent.” – Carl Westmoreland, assistant director, Underground Railroad Freedom Center
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“[The author] paints a vivid picture [of slaves escaping] and she paints it so well against a well-researched background of the national anti-slavery movement.” – Wall Street Journal
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“Hagedorn’s command of an unwieldy amount of source material and fresh prose will undoubtedly make this an authoritative text on what was a key battleground in the [anti-slavery] movement’s larger war on slavery.” – The Cincinnati Enquirer
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“Hagedorn has well re-created the feeling of desperation, danger and conflict that gripped the nation in the years leading up to the Civil War.” – Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) |
