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The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. By Michael F. Holt. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. xviii, 1248. $55.00.)
Some readers may be intimidated by the length of this book, but its size should not discourage them. The time it will take to read Michael Holt's study will be time well spent, for it is the most complete analysis of the Whig party to appear in recent years. The book should become the standard reference for party politics during the antebellum period.
Founded in 1833-34 in response to Andrew Jackson's policies toward the Second Bank of the United Sates, the Whig party reached its full potential during the Panic of 1837....