Damaged Souls (Masterplots, Definitive Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Gamaliel Bradford
- First Published: 1923
- Type of Work: Biographies
- Time of Work: 1737-1893
- Setting: America, England, Europe
- Principal Characters: Benedict Arnold, Thomas Paine, Aaron Burr, John Randolph, John Brown, Phineas Taylor Barnum, Benjamin Franklin Butler
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography
- Subjects: Nineteenth century, Spiritual life or spirituality, American Revolution, Eighteenth century, Patriotism, Entrepreneurship or entrepreneurs, Treason
- Locales: Europe, United States, England
Though the reviews of the time were not unmixed, DAMAGED SOULS remains as the best book by Gamaliel Bradford and unique in the history of letters: a contribution to American history, biography, and literature. Although Taine is supposed to have originated the term, Bradford was the most active “psychographer.” His biographical studies are not so much life stories as spiritual silhouettes.
The introductory essay, applauded as a new departure, the model for interviews in depth, suggests that the souls of Bradford’s subjects are not damned, that each has a unique...
[The entire page is 723 words long]
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