"Bill Cooper’s marvelous book is unquestionably the finest biography of Jefferson Davis ever published. Superbly researched, elegantly written, exquisitely balancing the public and private dimensions of Davis’s life, it provides an incisive and compelling analysis of his role as Confederate president, largely because it presents a brilliantly coherent interpretation of his entire career."
Michael F. Holt, author of The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party
"Jefferson Davis at last has a sympathetic yet critical biographer. William J. Cooper, Jr., has written a splendid life of one of the most complicated and controversial figures in American history. With consummate skill he narrates and analyzes the events and individuals who shaped Davis’s life. This book will stand as a model for many other controversial figures in U.S. history."
Robert V. Remini, author of Andrew Jackson
From the Hardcover edition.
