Midnight Rising

John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War

By: Tony Horwitz

Narrated by: Dan Oreskes

Best-selling author Tony Horwitz tells the electrifying tale of the daring insurrection that put America on the path to bloody war....

Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now, Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict.

Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland, joined by his teenage daughter, three of his sons, and a guerrilla band that included former slaves and a dashing spy. On October 17, the raiders seized Harpers Ferry, stunning the nation and prompting a counterattack led by Robert E. Lee. After Brown's capture, his defiant eloquence galvanized the North and appalled the South, which considered Brown a terrorist. The raid also helped elect Abraham Lincoln, who later began to fulfill Brown's dream with the Emancipation Proclamation, a measure he called "a John Brown raid, on a gigantic scale." Tony Horwitz's riveting book travels antebellum America to deliver both a taut historical drama and a telling portrait of a nation divided - a time that still resonates in ours.

©2011 Tony Horwitz (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

amazing telling of history

growing up in Kansas, we were taught about John Brown pretty extensively but this book covered so much more and kept me on the edge of my seat, awesome performance by the voice actor as well

Great listen on the history of John Brown

If you could sum up Midnight Rising in three words, what would they be?

History, craziness, fascinating

What other book might you compare Midnight Rising to and why?

I would probably compare them to Tony Horwitz's other books as I find all of them to be interesting reads on history.

What does Dan Oreskes bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

You could listen to the things John Brown said, instead of reading it- I think it helped to understand/picture the events.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was shocked by the sheer stubborn craziness of John Brown and he willingness to lead his sons to take place in violent raids. I hadn't ever realized how bloody and violent John Brown was, I was definitely surprised by the constant use of violence and his virtual abandonment of his family.

Any additional comments?

I didn't know much about John Brown, so learning about his childhood, role in Bleeding Kansas, his planning and eventual follow through of the raid on Harper's Ferry was fascinating and I would encourage anyone who doesn't know much beyond the basic facts to listen to this book.

Outstanding

By far the best version of John Brown and the Harpers Ferry raid I have ever read. Much better detail. The author puts the raid in context with the times and in relation to several other catalytic events that preceded the Civil War. I am well read on the Civil War but learn quite a bit from this story. Great narration which is key to all auidobooks!!

This May Be Tony Horwitz's Best to Date

What made the experience of listening to Midnight Rising the most enjoyable?

One of my favorite books is Tony Horwitz book was

Great Book

I've read a ton of Civil War books and was familiar with John Brown's raid and the importance of it but I didn't know the subject in great detail, which is why I picked up this book.

Simply said it's an excellent book and I think it strikes the right tone. I'm always afraid that whenever the issue of slavery is brought up in a modern book it's going to fall into the PC camp of needing to constantly apologize or into the demonizing / hero worship trap. I never really found any hints of an agenda, which only makes me appreciate the book that much more.

The author does a great job of setting the scene, gives enough of a background on Brown that you know him but keeps the story moving along at a good pace. I felt he covered everything in good detail so even if you didn't know anything about Brown or the aftermath of this raid you'd fully understand what happened, why and why it was later important.

The reader does an equally impressive job -- it's a straight read for the most part but it's very clear, moves at a good pace and I didn't really notice any mistakes or errors.

Overall I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about Brown, or more importantly anyone interested in Civil War books since this is really part of the build up as much as anything else that occurred.

John Brown Did Nothing Wrong

You know what they say! Don’t argue with anybody John Brown would have just shot.

Another Horwitz gem

Serious scholarship. Great narrative. Great narrator. Fascinating subject. I don't know what's not to like here. Live John Brown or hate him, you can't say that his story is boring. Or irrelevant. I could go oping by point, but I'll put it more succinctly: if you are a lover of American history like me, you owe it to yourself to read this book. It's nearly as important a subject as exists. And his author is one of the very best.

Puts the coming Civil War in context with a gripping story

After a recent trip to Harper's Ferry, I realized there was so much more to the story of John Brown's Raid to learn. What do most people know beyond the headline anyway? The writing style of Tony Horwitz and the incredible delivery of Dan Oreskes not only walks you through the moment in history, it does it in a page turning style!

So, So Good

I had high hopes for another highly entertaining, insightful, and informative Tony Horwitz production, but Midnight Rising actually exceeded my expectations. Horwitz provides a well-balanced human depth to each of the actors that helps this oft-told story to avoid the predictable “good guy / bad guy” cliches.

Narrator Dan Oreskes may be the best audiobook reader I’ve ever heard. Not only is the text read to perfection, but his pronunciation and intonation, and especially his affecting of regional accents, so often an irritating pitfall among audiobook narrators, are absolutely top notch. Particularly memorable for me was Oreskes’ reading of the curious exchange between John Brown and JEB Stuart through the door of the engine house. I was sorry that this audiobook had to end.

Amazing Story

Tony Horwitz' detailed account of the doomed raid that sparked the Civil War really is an amazing book. What I appreciated most were all the resources that the author availed of himself to paint a picture of John Brown that makes him less a "madman" and more detailed in three dimensions: resolute, not the best planner, earnest, honest, sincere in his beliefs. I think the rush to justice after his plot failed was just as interesting and speaks to many ways how politics and the media made his place in history more than he ever could. If you haven't listened to "Confederates in the Attic", another wonderful book from Tony Horwitz, I'd recommend it.