Books with title John Brown

This early work by Stephen Vincent Benét was originally published in 1928 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'John Brown's Body' is a long poem that tells the story of the American Civil War and illuminates the lives of soldiers, leaders, and civilians. Stephen Vincent Benét was born on 22nd July 1898 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. Benét was an accomplished writer at an early age, having had his first book published at 17 and submitting his third volume of poetry in lieu of a thesis for his degree. During his time at Yale, he was an influential figure at the 'Yale Lit' literary magazine, and a fellow member of the Elizabethan Club. Benét was also a part-time contributor for the early Time Magazine. Benét's best known works are the book-length narrative poem American Civil War, John Brown's Body (1928), for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and two short stories, The Devil and Daniel Webster (1936) and By the Waters of Babylon (1937). Benét won a second Pulitzer Prize posthumously for his unfinished poem Western Star in 1944.

Anyone who writes about the Civil War is now and then accosted by someone who speaks as follows: "Isn't there one good book that will give me an understanding of the war - how it happened, why it happened, why it came out the way it did, and what it really meant? I don't want a textbook, I don't want a military history, and I don't want a course of required reading: I just want one interesting, readable book that will tell me what the whole business was bout. What book should I read?" The writer's first impulse, of course, is to name five or six of his own books, in practically in any order. His next is to suggest that the questioner sit down with the 120 volumes of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion and see what happens. Then he is tempted to say that the book required simply does not exist. In the end, however, he starts running titles through his mind, looking for the single work that will provide the best understanding of the most moving and important event in American history. I don't know how other people make out with this, but I usually wind up by saying: "Read John Brown's Body, by Stephen Vincent Benet." - Introduction to "John Brown's Body by Stephen Vincent Benet" - Bruce Catton, March 1969. Courtesy of Gullah Bookstore

Excerpt from John Brown's BodyBut only made it smaller with their art, Because you are as various as your land, As mountainous-deep, as flowered with blue rivers, Thirsty with deserts, buried under snows, As native as the shape of Navajo quivers, And native, too, as the sea-voyaged rose.Swift runner, never captured or subdued, Seven-branched elk beside the mountain stream, That half a hundred hunters have pursued But never matched their bullets with the dream, Where the great huntsmen failed, I set my sorry And mortal snare for your immortal quarry.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.