Since the civil rights era of the 1960s, revisionist historians have been sympathetic to the racial justice motivations of the Radical Republican Reconstruction policies that followed the Civil War. But this emphasis on positive goals and accomplishments has obscured the role of the Republicans in the overthrow of their own program. Rich with insight, Michael W. Fitzgerald's new interpretation of Reconstruction shows how the internal dynamics of this first freedom movement played into the hands of white racist reactionaries in the South. Splendid Failure recounts how postwar financial missteps and other governance problems quickly soured idealistic Northerners on the practical consequences of the Radical Republican plan, and set the stage for the explosion that swept Southern Republicans from power and resulted in Northern acquiescence to the bloody repression of voting rights. The failed strategy offers a chastening example to present-day proponents of racial equality.

Widely hailed upon its original publication in 1982 (Louisiana State U. Press) this study examines the reasons behind the quick demise of Radical Reconstruction in Georgia. For the present edition, Drago has included a new preface about recent writing on Reconstruction, and has added an appendix containing new data on locally elected or appointed black politicians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR