The Man Behind the Cane: Preston Brooks, Political Violence, and the Road to the Civil War

Author/Contributor(s):	Quigley, Paul
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Date:	05/04/2026
Binding:	Hardcover
Condition:	NEW

In 1856, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks assaulted Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the US Capitol, defending his family's honor and the rights of slaveholders. Paul Quigley offers a gripping new perspective on Brooks and the act of violence that played a central role in the polarization that led to the Civil War.