Eugene L. Meyer is an award-winning journalist and author and a former longtime reporter and editor at the Washington Post whose work has also appeared in the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, and many other national and regional publications. He is a contributing editor for Bethesda magazine and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
"Academic readers will find much to admire in Meyer's remarkable
book. It is a well-written microhistory of these men in the raid;
yet it is also an account of the lingering echoes of their life and
death in the decades sense . . . Detailing their lives before the
raid, the author provides readers with a fascinating microstudy of
antebellum black life in slavery and freedom . . . I cannot
recommend this book enough. The general reader will enjoy its
accessibility, but it will also be excellent in the undergraduate
classroom. Meyer's study highlights many critical issues related to
the Civil War and its memory and legacy."--Barbara Cannon, author
of The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of
the Republic
"Finding fascinating stories that other writers miss has been
Eugene Meyer's calling card for decades, and he has done it again
with this important and largely untold story of five men forgotten
in the John Brown legend." --David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning
author of They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and
America, October 1967
"this book rectifies a glaring omission, focusing on those who
stood with John against all odds; but who have largely been
forgotten by history."--Midwest Book Review
"Meyer rights a wrong older than the Civil War...The author
delivers a well-researched, approachable narrative... A good book
for Civil War buffs." --Kirkus Reviews
"A well-written tour de force of historical detective work."
--Ernest B. Furgurson, author of Freedom Rising and
Chancellorsville 1863
"Deftly weaving history and biography, Meyer reconstructs how these
five men came to join the ill-fated attempt to spark a slave
revolt. Their role will not be forgotten now that--at long last--it
is contained in an engaging and memorable book." --James McGrath
Morris, author of Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady
of the Black Press.
"Eugene L. Meyer has brought to light the central role of the
leadership in the black community at the time of the raid... His
book has done these freedom fighters a great service." --Frank
Smith, founding director, African American Civil War Memorial
Museum
"Eugene Meyer has given the story of John Brown's raid on Harpers
Ferry new meaning and relevance by restoring Brown's black
collaborators to their rightful place in history. Five for Freedom
elevates the names Newby, Anderson, Copeland, Leary, and Green to
stand with Brown as individuals who were willing to sacrifice their
own lives to rid our country of the horror of chattel slavery."
--Margot Lee Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures
"You probably have never heard of Osborne Perry Anderson, John
Anthony Copeland, Shields Green, Lewis Sheridan Leary and
Dangerfield Newby. But after reading this book, you will never
forget them." --Courtland Milloy Jr., Washington Post columnist
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