Recommended by Hassan Adeeb

Really 4 1/2 stars.

This is a great book and you should all read it immediately.

Of all the really compelling historical figures in this book, the one that stood out the most to me was Robert Smalls. I cannot figure out why he is not better known. As best I can tell, there are only two biographies of Smalls in print: one, fairly short, by an academic press and a picture book for children. Smalls led a very full life and really deserves a full-length biography. He was born into slavery; made a thrilling escape to freedom in the fall of 1861; served the United States Navy with honor during the Civil War (he was the first African-American man to captain a ship); served in the South Carolina house of representatives and senate; and ended up owning the house in which he had been a slave. ( )

Really 4 1/2 stars.

This is a great book and you should all read it immediately.

Of all the really compelling historical figures in this book, the one that stood out the most to me was Robert Smalls. I cannot figure out why he is not better known. As best I can tell, there are only two biographies of Smalls in print: one, fairly short, by an academic press and a picture book for children. Smalls led a very full life and really deserves a full-length biography. He was born into slavery; made a thrilling escape to freedom in the fall of 1861; served the United States Navy with honor during the Civil War (he was the first African-American man to captain a ship); served in the South Carolina house of representatives and senate; and ended up owning the house in which he had been a slave. ( )

From the title, Capitol Men, I was simply prepared for biographies of the men pictured on the cover; this book is anything but an uncomplicated compendium of the first Black politicians joining in on the franchise of American government.

Philip Dray does more than just recount and tally achievements during the political careers of these men, he provides much needed context of the time and culture to allow the reader to appreciate just how tumultuous the time of Reconstruction was.

Be prepared to have your knowledge of history turned on its head! Rosa Parks was not the first person to spark outrage over seating on mass transit. In the 1860s, Robert Smalls (Philadelphia) and P.B.S. Pinchback (New Orleans) both gained press coverage when they fought segregation. The first federal civil rights legislation was not passed in the 1950s. Rep. Robert Brown Elliott spoke as an elected official in favor of the bill in 1874. Two suffrage movements, one of blacks, the other of women were not always united. The likes of Susan B. Anthony were apparently more concerned with gender over race in the struggle for voting rights.

It is quipped that the South, in spite of losing the Civil War, wrote the war's history. With this in mind, it is no wonder, that any achievements of Reconstruction, no matter how short lived, are seen as bungling and ineffective. Capitol Men proves that common knowledge is not always correct; honest history cannot belie the fact that Democrats defeated efforts of Reconstruction and the Republicans through violence, murder and politics. ( )

An understandable and thorough look at a very chaotic time. By concentrating on the first black congressmen, it provided a human focus to the book. That also means that those states with black majorities, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana received the most attention. It's a piece of American history that is often skipped over with a summary dismissal but one that is crucial to understanding today's world. ( )