A Fool's Errand: A Novel of the South During Reconstruction - Softcover

Albion E. Tourgee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0881336335 ISBN 13: 9780881336337

Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc, 1991

Synopsis

Now available from Waveland Press, this thinly veiled account of Judge Albion W. Tourgee's own career as a forceful advocate of civil rights was a bestseller in the 1880s and continues to occupy a place in the history of American literature. Judge Tourgee's reflections on the fundamental post- abolition problem of how to build a bridge from black emancipation to black equality provide readers with a clear picture of the South during the Reconstruction era. Presented as a work of fiction, this engaging and provocative work discusses Reconstruction and the many problems surrounding it. An introduction by George Fredrickson provides historical context for both the author and the novel.

About this title

About the Author

American abolitionist and lawyer ALBION W. TOURGÉE (1838-1905) also wrote Figs and Thistles (1879).

Review

First published in 1879, A Fool's Errand created much interest among readers and literary critics of the day and enjoyed, for a novel, a remarkable sale of some 200,000 copies. It is the story of Comfort Servosse, a Union officer, who at the end of the Civil War decides to make his home in the South. The author tells of Servosse's reception there and the difficulties he and his family encounter in the trying years of Reconstruction, a portrait of these tragic years, the novel is especially interesting. (Library Journal)

Among the many admirable reprints issued by the John Harvard Library; one of the most welcome and attractive is this one-time best selling novel. Written by a carpetbagger following fourteen trying years (1865-1879) in the South, A Fool's Errand not only reveals the thoughts of a carpetbagger on southern Reconstruction, but it remains one of the more perceptive descriptions of that puzzling fiasco as well as an enjoyable fictional tale. Professor Franklin's introductory vignette satisfactorily establishes the author's identity and the historical and ideological significance of his work... A Fool's Errand is a significant and unusually original portrayal, criticism, and analysis of postwar southern society... it also offers excitement, idealism, and romance. (The North Carolina Historical Review)

The editor, John Hope Franklin has written a “helpful introduction [in which he] indicates the relevance of Tourgee's hook to the history of the time. Professor Franklin and his publisher are to be commended. They have made a significant hook easily available, and in a much more attractive and readable format than that of any previous edition.” (History News)

About this edition

• Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0881336335
• ISBN 13: 9780881336337
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 404