“By unearthing hidden history, Mark Lause describes the class struggle and working-class radicalism embedded within the American revolution. These working-class radicals also fought for the abolition of slavery, indigenous rights and women's equality. This is a must read!”
— Sharon Smith, author of Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States
“A welcome antidote to the official myth of a country built by rugged, gun-toting individualists, Long Road to Harpers Ferry tells the story of collective resistance against slavery and exploitation in the early US. People's history at its best, Mark Lause's fine book brings this other America to life on its pages.”
— Francis King, editor, Socialist History
“In this immensely original and important book, Mark Lause brilliantly reconceptualizes the road to Harpers Ferry by recovering the anti-capitalist and anti-racist agendas of the black and white abolitionists who organized and launched the raid, establishing the ‘First American Left'.”
— John Stauffer, Kates Professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University