America's Jubilee

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Mark Stein Studios (Maps). xiv, 361, [7] pages. Illustrations. Maps. Chronology,Occasional footnotes. Notes. Index. DJ in plastic sleeve has slight wear and soiling. This work addresses how in 1826 a generation remembered fifty years of Independence. Andrew Burstein is the Charles P. Manship Professor of History at Louisiana State University Professor Burstein has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at LSU since 2008, after eight years at the University of Tulsa and four at the University of Northern Iowa. With his partner, Nancy Isenberg, Professor Burstein has coauthored the acclaimed dual biography Madison and Jefferson, the first full-length study in more than a half-century of the two founding era presidents whose friendship did so much to shape American political history. As a professional historian, Andrew Burstein has worked as a consultant to documentary films that include the Ken Burns production "Thomas Jefferson," which first aired on PBS in 1997. In America's Jubilee distinguished historian Andrew Burstein presents an engrossing narrative that takes us back to a pivotal year in American history, 1826, when the reins of democracy were being passed from the last Revolutionary War heroes to a new generation of leaders. Through brilliant sketches of selected individuals and events, Burstein creates an evocative portrait of the hopes and fears of Americans fifty years after the Revolution. We follow an aged Marquis de Lafayette on his triumphant tour of the country; and learn of the nearly simultaneous deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the 4th of July. We meet the ornery President John Quincy Adams, the controversial Secretary of State Henry Clay, and the notorious hot-tempered General Andrew Jackson. We also see the year through the eyes of a minister's wife, a romantic novelist, and even an intrepid wheel of cheese. Insightful and lively, America's Jubilee captures an unforgettable time in the republic's history, when a generation embraced the legacy of its predecessors and sought to enlarge its role in America's story.