James H. Madison – författare

Who are the people called Hoosiers? What are their stories? Two centuries ago, on the Indiana frontier, they were settlers who created a way of life they passed to later generations. They came to value individual freedom and distrusted government, even as they demanded that government remove Indians, sell them land, and bring democracy. Down to the present, Hoosiers have remained wary of government power and have taken care to guard their tax dollars and their personal independence. Yet the people of Indiana have always accommodated change, exchanging log cabins and spinning wheels for railroads, cities, and factories in the 19th century, automobiles, suburbs, and foreign investment in the 20th. The present has brought new issues and challenges, as Indiana's citizens respond to a rapidly changing world. James H. Madison's sparkling new history tells the stories of these Hoosiers, offering an invigorating view of one of America's distinctive states and the long and fascinating journey of its people.

"Who is an American?" asked the Ku Klux Klan. It is a question that echoes as loudly today as it did in the early twentieth century. But who really joined the Klan? Were they "hillbillies, the Great Unteachables" as one journalist put it? It would be comforting to think so, but how then did they become one of the most powerful political forces in our nation's history? In The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland, renowned historian James H. Madison details the creation and reign of the infamous organization. Through the prism of their operations in Indiana and the Midwest, Madison explores the Klan's roots in respectable white protestant society. Convinced that America was heading in the wrong direction because of undesirable "un-American" elements, Klan members did not see themselves as bigoted racist extremists but as good Christian patriots joining proudly together in a righteous moral crusade. The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland offers a detailed history of this powerful organization and examines how, through its use of intimidation, religious belief, and the ballot box, the ideals of Klan in the 1920s have on-going implications for America today.

" . . . an impressive collection of essays . . . gives as clear a picture of the Midwest as a whole as one is likely to get." —Journal of American History" . . . excellent insight into how and why the midwest ticks so well in a unique beat of its own." —South Bend Tribune"[Madison] can take a bow for a job well done." —Indianapolis News"I found Heartland to be a treasure. Had I turned a dog-ear each time I read something worth remembering, the book would be in tatters. . . . a wonderful companion." —Myron A. Marty, St. Louis Post-Dispatch"An ambitious book, full of insight, which provides a useful first step in trying to understand that elusive entity—the Midwest." —Clifford E. Clark, Jr., Minnesota History" . . . strong and interestingly written . . . " —Indianapolis Star" . . . should be of interest to the serious reader of history who is curious about the Midwest, its origins, its development and its constituent states." —Northwest Ohio Quarterly" . . . these essays are the stuff of excellent and readable intellectual history . . . " —History" . . . a successful achievement. Heartland is an enjoyable book . . . " —Great Plains Quarterly"Because this book has the capacity to affect one's thinking, it deserves to be read. It may even persuade some readers to discard the term Middle West." —Richard S. Kirkendall, Gateway Heritage"Heartland is an excellent presentation, in summary, of the history and background of the 12 Midwestern states." —Journal of the WestTo the cultural czars of the two coasts, America's heartland is frequently depicted as an amorphous, undifferentiated mass of land and people. Twelve experts examine individual states of the Midwest, examining the origins and nature of the unique midwestern cultural phenomena: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

"This is a splendid example of how to write well balanced, highly readable state history." —The Old Northwest"Madison has succeeded as have few other authors of state histories in blending modern scholarly concerns with the traditional narrative historiography of his state. This book is in many ways a model state history." —Choice"Neither too detailed and provincial, nor too broad and comparative, The Indiana Way adopts an integrated analytical approach, but also includes some narrative and biography." —Journal of American History

Elizabeth Richardson was a Red Cross volunteer who worked as a Clubmobile hostess during World War II. Handing out free doughnuts, coffee, cigarettes, and gum to American soldiers in England and France, she and her colleagues provided a touch of home—American girls with whom the boys could talk, flirt, dance, and perhaps find companionship. Usually the job was not hazardous—except when V-1 and V-2 rockets rained down on London—but it required both physical endurance and the skills of a trained counselor. Liz Richardson is a witty writer and astute observer. Her letters and diaries reveal an intelligent, independent, and personable woman with a voice that rings true. With commentary by historian James H. Madison, this book is an exceptional window into a past that is all too quickly fading from memory.

"The 12 assessments of Wendell Willkie in this book are exceptionally well done. They are interesting reading about a most interesting man." —The Coffeyville (KS) Journal" . . . a remarkable and useful compilation of essays . . . " —Indiana Magazine of HistoryIndiana's Wendell Willkie burst upon the national political scene in 1940 when, apparently out of nowhere, he won the Republican nomination for the presidency and ran against Franklin Roosevelt. After his defeat, he traveled widely and returned to write One World, which had a tremendous impact on the then-isolationist United States. "There was about him," the New York Times editorialized, "a warm and winning sincerity . . . a natural straightforwardness which left untouched no one who knew him." These essays by a distinguished group of historians recognize one of the state's most famous native sons and reassess his impact on history one hundred years after his birth.