Robert Cook (1) (1958–)

4207 Baptism of Fire The Republican Party in Iowa, 1838-1878, by Robert Cook (read 7 Sep 2006) The author is a lecturer in American history at the University of Sheffield in England, but he has such a command of his subject one would never guess he was British. It is a study of the Republican Party in Iowa from 1856 to 1878 and is really a good book. The Republican Party gained its ascendancy in Iowa for a valid reason: it was more right on civil rights than was the Democratic party in Iowa. The party changed, of course, but it had become entrenched in Iowa by then and it remained the dominant party all thru the period studied. Many of the books listed in the good bibliography in this book I have read. James Grimes comes out looking like a great man, whereas James Harlan was something of a crook--which I had not realized even though I read a biography of him back in 1945. This is a well-researched book and tells interesting things about the politics of early Iowa.… (meer)