The United States of America was founded upon a devil’s pact, a compromise with sin. Knowing the Union could only be borne by allowing the “peculiar institution” of slavery, the Founding Fathers laid a foundation of resentment between the Northern and Southern states. Ecstatic Nation is Brenda Wineapple’s spellbinding and acid-tongued account of the years leading up to the Civil War and its aftermath, Reconstruction. The consequences of moral compromise lie at the heart of the narrative from this period of history. Using a brilliant mix of memoirs and front-page headlines straight out of the mid-nineteenth century, Wineapple presents a chilling story of the feverish, conflicted years that stretched the nation from coast to coast, while nearly rending it in twain. With characters ranging from the supercilious, grandstanding P.T. Barnum to the resolute, merciless organizer Susan B. Anthony, Ecstatic Nation is a must-read for anyone seeking to be a student of history.