Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice Book Review

Historian Bruce Levine sets out to tell the story of the “zigs and zags” in the career path of 19th-century Penn­syl­vania congressman and civil-rights advocate Thaddeus Stevens; along the way he shows how our political system managed to advance human freedom. Levine deftly weaves political, social, and intellectual history into eleven brief chapters on the life of a politician who was at the cutting edge of arguments over slavery and equality.

Born with a club foot in 1792 in Danville, Vt., and named for Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the Polish general and hero of the American Revolution,…