{"product_id":"the-fire-eaters-9780807117750","title":"The Fire-Eaters","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the early 1850s, northerners and southerners alike used the term \u003ci\u003efire-eater\u003c\/i\u003e to describe anyone whose views were clearly outside the political mainstream. Eventually, though, the word came to be most closely identified with those southerners who were staunch and unyielding advocates of secession. In this broadly researched and illuminating study, Eric H. Walther examines the lives of nine of the most prominent fire-eaters: Nathaniel Beverly Tucker, William Lowndes Yancey, John Anthony Quitman, Robert Barnwell Rhett, Laurence M. Keitt, Louis T. Wigfall, James D.B. De Bow, Edmund Ruffin, and William Porcher Miles. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWalther paints skillful portraits of his subjects, analyzing their backgrounds, personalities, and contributions to the movement for disunion. Although they shared the common goal of southern independence, Walther shows that in many respects the fire-eaters differed markedly from one another. It was their very diversity, he maintains, that enabled them to appeal to such a wide spectrum of southern opinion and thereby rally support for secession. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn his exploration of the role of the fire-eaters in the secession movement, Walther touches upon a number of perennial themes in southern history, including the appeal of proslavery thought and southern expansionism, the place of education and industrialization in antebellum southern society, the significance of oratory in southern culture, and the nature of southern nationalism. He also describes the fire-eaters' activities on behalf of the Confederacy and traces the course of their lives after the war. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Fire-Eaters\u003c\/i\u003e makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the secession movement and the context in which it developed. There is no other study available that treats these men as a group and that delineates their manifold differences as well as their similarities. Walther shows that secessionism was not a monolithic ideology but rather a movement that emerged from many sources, spoke in many voices, and responded to a number of regional problems, needs, and aspirations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Eric H. Walther\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e LSU Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/01\/1992\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.14lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.14h x 5.94w x 0.86d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780807117750\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEric H. Walther is a visiting lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Houston.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LSU Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40724309573747,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":35.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_5b2f9dde-af7e-4324-832e-02f399d76f50.jpg?v=1677250808","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/the-fire-eaters-9780807117750","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}