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  • Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison's America

    Serpent in Eden by Reeder, Tyson;

    Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison's America

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      • Publisher's listprice GBP 26.99
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    12 894 Ft

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    Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
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    Product details:

    • Publisher OUP USA
    • Date of Publication 28 November 2024

    • ISBN 9780197628591
    • Binding Hardback
    • No. of pages424 pages
    • Size 224x157x38 mm
    • Weight 771 g
    • Language English
    • Illustrations 43 b/w illustrations, 3 maps
    • 616

    Categories

    Short description:

    Tyson Reeder's book evokes early America's rocky beginnings, when foreign interference and political conflict threatened to undermine its aspirations and ideals, even its very existence. Spanning the period from the Revolution to the War of 1812, and focusing particularly on the presidency of James Madison, it reveals a nation adjusting to rancorous partisanship, subjected to the untested and imperfect new tools of governance, and learning to live with the growing power of media.

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    Long description:

    A story of espionage, shadow diplomacy, foreign scheming, and domestic backstabbing in the formative years of the American republic.

    Tyson Reeder's book traces early America's rocky beginnings, when foreign interference and political conflict threatened to undermine its aspirations and ideals, even its very existence. Spanning the period from the Revolution to the War of 1812, and focusing particularly on the presidency of James Madison, it reveals a nation adjusting to rancorous partisan politics, aggravated by the untested and imperfect new tools of governance and the growing power of media. Foreign powers, mainly Great Britain and Napoleonic France, exploited these conditions to advance their own agendas, interfering in U.S. elections to promote the outcome they favored. Dissent and disloyalty became dangerously interdigitated, nearly bringing the new republic to the brink of collapse.

    No figure was more in the center of it all than James Madison. As a leading delegate at the Constitutional Convention, Republican congressional leader, secretary of state, and president, Madison grappled with foreign meddling for over three decades. At the same time, he emerged as a political leader, feeding the very partisanship that bred foreign intrigues. As chief executive, he presided over the calamitous barrage of accusations and counteraccusations of foreign collusion that culminated in the War of 1812. Madison left a mixed but indelible legacy: as a fierce adversary of foreign interference, a fiery champion of political debate, and a partisan operative who facilitated the former by inflaming the latter.

    Forged in partisan conflict, the United States remains vulnerable to forces that test whether the constitutional system Madison was so central in implementing can withstand outside meddling while accommodating partisan conflict. Madison's successes and failures, along with his original vision of the Constitution and party politics, illuminate the ongoing struggle between domestic polarization and foreign interference.

    In Serpent in Eden, Tyson Reeder vividly depicts an early American republic obsessed with fears of collapse through foreign meddling. Bitterly divided, the republic's leaders often invited the very manipulation that they dreaded. Deeply researched and beautifully written, Serpent in Eden offers the best account of the interplay of diplomacy and politics in our nation's origins. That story offers a lively yet sobering reflection for our own consideration.

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    Table of Contents:

    Introduction: The Spy and the Con Artist
    The Politician
    Partisans
    Sovereigns
    The West
    The Crisis
    Chapter 1: "Guile in the Garden"
    The Theorist
    The Council
    Allies
    Peace
    Congress
    Confederacies
    Chapter 2: "Calamities from Abroad"
    The Journey
    The River
    The Mansion
    The Convention
    The General
    Federalists
    Separatists
    Chapter 3: "The Epoch of Party Formation"
    The Cabinet
    Partners
    Number 7
    Backchannels
    Debt
    Boarders
    Parties
    Chapter 4: "Kindling Parties"
    The Mission
    Vox Populi
    Vox Dei
    Terrorism
    Games
    Chapter 5: "A Vile Underhand Game"
    Marriages
    Fires
    Number 10
    Accusations
    Whispers
    Opponents
    Farewells
    Chapter 6: "Jefferson's Election as President"
    Candidates
    The Election
    The Conspiracy
    The Bribe
    The Pole
    Shade
    Strategy
    Chapter 7: "Embryo of a Tornado"
    Chess
    Storms
    The Inauguration
    The Territory
    The Secretary
    Neighbors
    The Purchase
    The Minority
    Chapter 8: "Corrupting the Citizens"
    The Gulf
    The Proposal
    The Recall
    The Press
    Argent
    Sovereignty
    The Venezuelan
    The People
    Chapter 9: "The Burr Fever"
    Merry
    Yrujo
    Number 13
    Arrests
    Blame
    Prisoners
    The Trial
    Chapter 10: "The Election of Mr. Madison"
    Conflict
    Embargo
    Documents
    The Junto
    The Spy
    The Suit
    Chapter 11: "Murdered By British Intrigue"
    Land
    Prophetstown
    The Treaty
    The Battle
    The Triumvirate
    Chapter 12: "A Serpent, in the Shape of a Spy"
    The Irishman
    The Count
    Trust
    Distrust
    Names
    Eden
    The Message
    Epilogue: The Fall of Washington
    Flames
    Madisons
    Legacy
    Notes

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