Listen free for 30 days

  • Thaddeus Stevens

  • Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice
  • Written by: Bruce Levine
  • Narrated by: Landon Woodson
  • Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Thaddeus Stevens cover art

Thaddeus Stevens

Written by: Bruce Levine
Narrated by: Landon Woodson
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $23.67

Buy Now for $23.67

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

A “powerful” (The Wall Street Journal) biography of one of the 19th century’s greatest statesmen, encompassing his decades-long fight against slavery and his postwar struggle to bring racial justice to America.

Thaddeus Stevens was among the first to see the Civil War as an opportunity for a second American revolution - a chance to remake the country as a genuine multiracial democracy. As one of the foremost abolitionists in Congress in the years leading up to the war, he was a leader of the young Republican Party’s radical wing, fighting for anti-slavery and anti-racist policies long before party colleagues like Abraham Lincoln endorsed them. These policies - including welcoming black men into the Union’s armies - would prove crucial to the Union war effort.

During the Reconstruction era that followed, Stevens demanded equal civil and political rights for Black Americans - rights eventually embodied in the 14th and 15th amendments. But while Stevens in many ways pushed his party - and America - towards equality, he also championed ideas too radical for his fellow Congressmen ever to support, such as confiscating large slaveholders’ estates and dividing the land among those who had been enslaved.

In Thaddeus Stevens, acclaimed historian Bruce Levine has written a “vital” (The Guardian), “compelling” (James McPherson) biography of one of the most visionary statesmen of the 19th century and a forgotten champion for racial justice in America.

©2021 Bruce Levine. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What the critics say

“Bruce Levine...restores [Stevens] fully to his place in the American pantheon.... A fitting monument to one of the most formidable gladiators ever to stride the halls of Congress.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“At last, Thaddeus Stevens, one of the nineteenth century’s greatest proponents of racial justice, gets the biography he deserves. Drawing on a career of scholarly engagement with the Civil War era, Bruce Levine expertly relates how Stevens navigated the currents of the Second American Revolution, how he helped to bring about the destruction of slavery and was a leader in the effort during Reconstruction to make the United States a biracial democracy. We need Stevens’ passion for equality today.” (Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery

“He was called everything from Robin Hood to Robespierre to evil genius to fanatic and worse. He was a 'radical' in a time when that was not always derogatory. This book reveals in many dimensions a Thaddeus Stevens, who with vicious wit and shrewd political skill, was a primary founder of the second American republic. Through deep understanding of all the contexts of the Civil War era and vivid writing, Bruce Levine gives us the best biography of this towering figure yet written, and a timely story about the power of racial equality.” (David W. Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.

What listeners say about Thaddeus Stevens

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.