"John Forsyth was a newspaper editor in a time when editors were powerful and important figures in US politics. Burnett (Univ. of Mobile) analyzes Forsyth's career during the tumultuous middle decades of the 19th century. The son of John Forsyth, Sr., governor of Georgia and secretary of state under Jackson and Van Buren, Forsyth held a number of political offices, but was best known as editor of The Mobile Register. He played significant roles in Alabama and national politics, particularly in the presidential election of 1860, where he strongly supported Stephen Douglas. Although Forsyth was a zealous advocate of the Confederacy, he initially called for Southerners to accept the changes that defeat brought to their region. However, when it became clear that those changes meant greater equality for African Americans, he rejected Reconstruction and fought for the return of white rule. While there is much to commend this work, one would hope that a biography of a journalist would include at least a few complete editorials. Instead, readers never get more than five or six uninterrupted sentences. That criticism aside, the book should be purchased by all libraries with collections on southern history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries."
—CHOICE

“Fans of political history will savor this model biography. Well written, balanced, succinct, yet comprehensive, it rescues from obscurity the son of a more famous father. . . . This fine study of a major journalist is a solid contribution to southern history and our understanding of nineteenth-century American politics including such topics as the Know-Nothings, the collapse of the Whigs, the secession crisis, and the failure of Reconstruction.” —Journal of American History