Synopses & Reviews
[Murchison] employ[s] his incomparable pen and vivid historical imagination in the cause of bringing back to life one of the most underrated and misunderstood of the Founders.”
The American Conservative
The Cost of Liberty offers a sorely needed reassessment of a great patriot and misunderstood Founder.
It has been more than a half century since a biography of John Dickinson appeared. Author William Murchison rectifies this mistake, bringing to life one of the most influential figures of the entire Founding period, a principled man whose gifts as writer, speaker, and philosopher only Jefferson came near to matching. In the process, Murchison destroys the caricature of Dickinson that has emerged from such popular treatments as HBOs John Adams miniseries and the Broadway musical 1776.
Dickinson is remembered mostly for his reluctance to sign the Declaration of Independence. But that reluctance, Murchison shows, had nothing to do with a lack of patriotism. In fact, Dickinson immediately took up arms to serve the colonial causesomething only one signer of the Declaration did. He stood on principle to oppose declaring independence at that moment, even when he knew that doing so would deal the finishing blow” to his once-great reputation.
Dubbed the Penman of the Revolution,” Dickinson was not just a scribe but also a shaper of mighty events. From the 1760s through the late 1780s he was present at, and played a significant role in, every major assemblage where the Founders charted Americas patha claim few others could make. Author of the landmark essays Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, delegate to the Continental Congress, key figure behind the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, chief executive of both Pennsylvania and Delaware: Dickinson was, as one esteemed historian aptly put it, the most underrated of all the Founders.”
This lively biography gives a great Founder his long-overdue measure of honor. It also broadens our understanding of the Founding period, challenging many modern assumptions about the events of 1776 and 1787.
Review
John Dickinsons vigorous defense of Americans rights as Englishmen won him renown throughout the colonies in the 1760s, but his refusal to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776 diminished his reputation and came to be unfairly seen as his defining moment. . . . With The Cost of Liberty, a brisk, admiring biography, journalist William Murchison provides a fuller portrait.”
Wall Street Journal
John Dickinson is perhaps the most neglected and least understood of the Founders of our nation. A man of principle and wisdom, Dickinson influenced the course of events and shaped the outcome in critical ways. William Murchison has brought him to life and cleared up some vital areas of the Founding. This book is truly a must read.”
Forrest McDonald, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama, author of Novus Ordo Seclorum
The Cost of Liberty is a delightful booklively, warm, amusing, and intelligent. It brings a brave and wise man splendidly back to life.”
Richard Brookhiser, author of James Madison and What Would the Founders Do?
Review
John Dickinson is the most neglected of the true giants of the American War for Independence. Bill Murchison has written a book finally, and fully, worthy of the author of more of our nations founding documents than any other man. This biography will stand for the ages.”
John Willson, professor emeritus of history at Hillsdale College
Like his biographical subject, John Dickinson, William Murchison possesses wisdom, a felicitous prose style, and a shrewd understanding, as Murchison puts it, of the value of no in political affairs. The Cost of Liberty is a gem.”
Bill Kauffman, author of Forgotten Founder, Drunken Prophet: The Life of Luther Martin
This splendid new account of John Dickinson represents the perfect marriage of subject and author. It is hard to think of a Founder more deserving of a second and third look than the admirable Dickinson. And it is hard to think of a writer more worthy of our admiration than Bill Murchison, a master of the English language.”
Wilfred M. McClay, Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty at the University of Oklahoma
Synopsis
The Cost of Liberty offers a sorely needed reassessment of a great patriot and misunderstood Founder.
It has been more than a half century since a biography of John Dickinson appeared. Author William Murchison rectifies this mistake, bringing to life one of the most influential figures of the entire Founding period, a principled man whose gifts as writer, speaker, and philosopher only Jefferson came near to matching. In the -process, Murchison destroys the caricature of -Dickinson that has emerged from such popular treatments as HBO's John Adams miniseries and the Broadway musical 1776.
Dickinson is remembered mostly for his reluctance to sign the -Declaration of Independence. But that reluctance, Murchison shows, had nothing to do with a lack of patriotism. In fact, Dickinson immediately took up arms to serve the colonial cause--something only one signer of the -Declaration did. He stood on principle to oppose declaring independence at that moment, even when he knew that doing so would deal the "finishing blow" to his once-great reputation.
Dubbed the "Penman of the Revolution," Dickinson was not just a scribe but also a shaper of mighty events. From the 1760s through the late 1780s he was present at, and played a significant role in, every major assemblage where the Founders charted America's path--a claim few others could make. Author of the landmark essays Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, delegate to the Continental Congress, key -figure behind the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, chief executive of both Pennsylvania and Delaware: Dickinson was, as one esteemed -historian aptly put it, "the most underrated of all the Founders."
This lively biography gives a great Founder his long-overdue measure of honor. It also broadens our understanding of the Founding period, challenging many modern assumptions about the events of 1776 and 1787.
Synopsis
The first biography of John Dickinson published in fifty years, The Cost of Liberty offers a sorely needed reassessment of a great patriot and misunderstood Founding Father.Countering the caricature of Dickinson that has emerged from such popular treatments as HBO’s John Adams miniseries, author William Murchison brings to life an astonishingly principled man whose gifts as philosopher, writer, and speaker only Jefferson came near matching. Today Dickinson is remembered mostly for his reluctance to sign the Declaration of Independence. But that reluctance was in fact principled, Murchison shows, not the result of a lack for patriotism. Indeed, Dickinson immediately took up arms to serve the colonial cause—something only one signer of the Declaration did. The Cost of Libertygives a great Founder his long-overdue measure of honor.
About the Author
William Murchison is a widely published author, journalist, and commentator who specializes in historical and cultural subjects. A former editor at the Dallas Morning News, he is a nationally syndicated columnist and has contributed to the Wall Street Journal, National Review, the Weekly Standard, First Things, the American Spectator, Chronicles, the Washington Times, and other publications. Murchison holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Texas and for five years served as Radford Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Baylor University. He lives in Texas.