A Disease in the Public Mind

A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil War

By: Thomas Fleming

Narrated by: William Hughes

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

By the time his body hung from the gallows for his crimes at Harper’s Ferry, abolitionists had made John Brown a "holy martyr" in the fight against Southern slave owners. But Northern hatred for Southerners had been long in the making. Northern rage was born of the conviction that New England, whose spokesmen and militia had begun the American Revolution, should have been the leader of the new nation. Instead, they had been displaced by Southern "slavocrats" like Thomas Jefferson. And Northern envy only exacerbated the South’s greatest fear: race war. In the 60 years preceding the outbreak of civil war, Northern and Southern fanatics ramped up the struggle over slavery. By the time they had become intractable enemies, only the tragedy of a bloody civil war could save the Union.

In this riveting and character-driven history, one of America’s most respected historians traces the "disease in the public mind" - distortions of reality that seized large numbers of Americans - in the decades-long run-up to the Civil War.

©2013 Thomas Fleming (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The prolific Fleming, for decades a fixture among American historians, pinpoints public opinion as the proximate origin of the war.… Making a plausible presentation of antebellum attitudes and illusions, Fleming is sure to spark lively discussion about the Civil War." ( Booklist)

Refreshing and challenging

What did you love best about A Disease in the Public Mind?

The reevaluation of Colonial thru Civil War history can never be over mined. Thomas Fleming deserves props for this refreshing examination of what was going on in America in regards to slavery. Many questions we face today including the politics of race are embedded in the discussion from this earlier period.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Thomas Jefferson was a compelling figure. A genuinely twisted individual.

Which scene was your favorite?

The Haitian uprising and America's near hysterical silence on the matter.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Truly moment after moment the story was compelling. Reading about men moved from the colonial period to end slavery, and the end of slavery in the north. I was also surprised at how much history is neglected and forgotten in the modern narrative. When you finish this you realize that whole levels of understanding can be added to the Civil War and what it meant to American, then and now.

Any additional comments?

I had the pleasure of reading this, and then listening to it, both methods are satisfactory.

Eye opening history

One of the best history books I’ve had the chance to pick up, should be read by anyone with an interest in the antebellum period of American history.

good book for history

fantastic book on slavery and more. I one of the best books ive listened too in years

Not quite what I expected

So glad I read this even tho I thought it was going to be centered around the American Civil war it does back much further. Well written and well read

The best there is in my opinion

As the son of a Northern Father and Southern Mother, I’ve never fallen hard on either side of The Civil war. My only goal has been to understand each player in it. Now if you ARE biased for one side, this book might anger you because it will not blame one side. Instead it blames BOTH sides; illustrating how BOTH were indeed driven to a vitriolic fever pitch by “A Disease of the Public Mind”. The only one who seemed to keep his mind about him was Abraham Lincoln. And he— with his genius for timing, was able to navigate the ship of state through & around obstacles like no one else could have. Unfortunately, when the time came for that same mind to navigate reconstruction, John Wilkes Booth silenced it forever; leaving the fate of the nation to vindictive chaos.

Listen skeptically, but still listen

I do not share the author’s view of the abolitionists. Surely, they deserve better treatment than they get in this book.

That said, history is full of warring truths. This is not a lost cause polemic. Rather, it is a useful analysis of the evolution of what became an irrepressible conflict.

Slavery was a vast torture machine. It was also the foundation of enormous, historic wealth. And slavery was more than just a torture machine as the author asserts. It had many facets. Nevertheless, it was hideously cruel. The spiritual awakening that created abolitionism fixated in horror and righteous fury before this cruelty. It is fair to point out that fanaticism was also present in the abolitionist movement. John Brown was deranged. But to paint the abolitionists with broad stripes of fanaticism is unjust. The author flirts with this injustice. Remember the horror the abolitionists bore witness to. Their response was as intense as the horror.

But this gets to a key and vital point the author makes. The South lived in horror too. The slaughter of Haitian war with Napoleon felt like a real consequence to them should their slave system collapse - a vital reality to the southern white mind of that time. Combine that with the feared loss of the fabulous wealth of the slave plantation economy and therein lies a core of blood conflict.

I don’t buy into the author’s thesis. He blames the abolitionists mostly for the civil war. Wrong, but not crazy. I do believe he presents an important historic argument. Understanding it’s failings and strengths is why this book is worth a good listen.

The greatest weakness of this book is the lack of slave testimony. Slaves had agency. They fled cruel oppression. The North was flooded with their accounts. Such accounts were brutally suppressed in the South. But in the North normal people read the testimony, perceived the evil, and responded accordingly. I very much wish the author had wrestled with this issue. The slaves made their case and won. The slave masters made theirs and lost. Missing in this book.

Important perspective

One of the most important books I’ve ever read. It illustrates the importance of understanding and brotherhood over idealism and radicalism even in the face of insurmountable tragedy.

One of the finest

Books you will ever hear dear. It’s not queer no fear and no king Lear. Every year a mere sphere of beer makes my sneer here

Review of A Disease in the Public Mind

This is the best book I have run across for an explanation of why we fought the Civil War. I can highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a highly readable book written by an academic on the subject of why we fought the Civil War.

Required reading in our time

The psychological atmosphere described herein is frighteningly familiar in the age of Trump. The whole idea of a "Disease in the public mind," which perceptive observers noted at the time of the civil war, seems to have infected us again.