Peace in the US Republic of Letters, 1840-1900 By Prof Sandra Gustafson
Peace in the US Republic of Letters, 1840-1900 (1st edition, 2023) by Sandra M. Gustafson explores the intersection of 19th-century American literary culture and the burgeoning international peace movement. Part of the Oxford Studies in American Literary History series, the book analyzes how prominent authors engaged with peace advocacy during a period dominated by the Civil War and its aftermath.
Key Book Information
- Author: Sandra M. Gustafson, Professor of English and Faculty Fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
- Publisher: Oxford University Press.
- Publication Date: December 21, 2023 (hardcover); digital editions released as early as September 2023.
- Format & Length: Available in Hardcover (approx. 258 pages) and eBook (approx. 441 pages).
- ISBN-13: 978-0192884770.
Thematic Summary
The book examines the transition of peace societies from their 1815 origins into an international cause that anticipated 20th-century peacebuilding institutions. It is structured around the Civil War as a central axis, with chapters divided into two main eras:
- 1840–1865 (Pre-war and War): Analyzes the works of James Fenimore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne to explore the overlap between peace advocacy, abolitionism, and fears of civil conflict.
- Postbellum (Aftermath): Investigates how later writers addressed political corruption, class conflict, and the failures of Reconstruction. Featured authors include Henry Adams, John Hay, Albion Tourgée, Charles Chesnutt, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Simon Pokagon.
- Theoretical Framework: Incorporates peace studies concepts such as "negative peace" vs. "positive (just) peace" and "direct" vs. "indirect (systemic) violence".
Table of Contents
- Regeneration through Nonviolence
- Abolishing Slavery, Imagining Peace
- Violence, Direct and Indirect
- Arbitration and Alliance
- Race and Republican Peace
- Failing at Peace