Reviews
Review by: James Hill Welborn III, associate professor of History, Georgia College & State University; and author of DUELING CULTURES, DAMNABLE LEGACIES - December 20, 2024
"Bradley R. Rice has provided an overdue scholarly treatment of Georgia politician Joshua Hill, whose career spanned the breadth of the tumultuous Civil War Era. Rice has resurrected Hill from relative obscurity to situate him in the complex and evolving milieu of state, regional, and national politics and associated cultural conflicts of his era. Through Hill, Rice shows white southern cultural identity and political ideology to be far more nuanced than any prevailing conception of a 'Solid South' before, during, or after the war has tended to perpetuate. Deeply researched and elegantly written, Rice's biography will engage scholars and general readers alike, rendering this often-overlooked historical figure accessible and understandable by contextualizing him both historically and in cultural memory."
Review by: Philip Lee Williams, author of the acclaimed Civil War novel A DISTANT FLAME - December 20, 2024
"This biography is an important study of the life and times of one the most intriguing figures of the Civil War period in Georgia. Joshua Hill, though an enslaver in Madison, Georgia, was an ardent Unionist. Bradley R. Rice's intricate, well-written, and brilliantly researched history describes Hill this way: 'He refused to embrace secession, he never endorsed the rebel cause, and he never pledged loyalty to the Confederate government.' Before the war, Hill was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and after, a U.S. Senator. Rice gives us the first full scholarly picture of this crucial figure in the history of the South before, during, and after America’s worst nightmare."
Review by: Stephen Huggins, author of AMERICA'S USE OF TERROR - December 20, 2024
"What was the fate of a lone small-town Georgia Unionist during the Civil War? Senator Joshua Hill defended the Union even as separationist sentiment grew, and finally shattered, the uneasy political balance that defined the pre-war American South. Bradley R. Rice's exhaustive research unpacks the very personal consequences of Hill's steadfast opposition to a war that tested the very idea of American political union. Hill's stand derailed a strong political career, but his principles and popularity helped him preserve the respect of his neighbors and political allies and allowed him to remain politically relevant throughout the late nineteenth century. Rice's portrait of this singular life shows how Hill remained a prominent force in national and Georgia politics and helped him become 'the man who saved Madison.'"