Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate
Add The Most Famous Man in America to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf
The Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate
Paperback $22.00
Apr 17, 2007 | ISBN 9780385513975

Buy from Other Retailers:

See All Formats (1) +
  • Apr 17, 2007 | ISBN 9780385513975

    Buy from Other Retailers:

  • Dec 18, 2007 | ISBN 9780307424006

    Buy from Other Retailers:

Product Details

Praise

Praise for The Most Famous Man in America

“A wonderful portrait of a charismatic preacher with a deeply flawed private life, this biography vividly conveys the color and contradictions of nineteenth-century America. With a sure grasp of history, penetrating insights into religion, and many marvelous turns of phrase, Applegate brings to life a time that uncannily prefigures our own.”
—William Taubman, author of Khrushchev

“At last, Henry Beecher receives the comprehensive treatment he is due, in this perceptive, engaging, and balanced study.”
—James MacGregor Burns

“Debby Applegate brings to life nineteenth-century America’s most influential preacher, who emerges in this full-blooded portrait as a fascinating tangle of all-too-human traits. Drawing off an impressive body of research, the author expertly weaves together biography and history in a riveting narrative that reads like a page-turning novel.”
—David S. Reynolds, author of John Brown, Abolitionist and Walt Whitman’s America.

“Thoroughly researched, passionately written, and richly detailed, this book is the biography of America’s greatest nineteenth-century preacher . . . must reading for serious nonfiction readers of American religion, politics and culture in Victorian America.”
—Harry S. Stout, Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Religious History, Yale University

“A lively narrative of nineteenth-century religion, power, passion, and politics, as well as a perceptive study of the elusive preacher who rode them to the top.”
—Joan D. Hedrick, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Harriet Beecher Stowe


“Henry Ward Beecher was a phenomenon: the scion of an amazing family, the most renowned American preacher of his day, an anti-slavery stalwart—and the main protagonist in one of the most sensational sex scandals of the Victorian era. If you thought that the personalities and machinations surrounding the Clinton impeachment scandal were interesting, you will find the Beecher exposé riveting. More important, Debby Applegate has vividly brought Beecher and his entire era to life, in all of their piety, idealism, pomposity, and pride.”
—Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy

Awards

Pulitzer Prize WINNER 2007

Looking for More Great Reads?
21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
Get the latest updates about Debby Applegate
And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
By clicking “SIGN UP”, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime.
Dismiss
Thanks!
Something awesome is on its way.
Back to Top