'What makes this thoroughly researched study all the more enjoyable is McCoy's accomplishment as a biographer. He knows Madison; he is acquainted with the man rather than with an historical figure. As a result, the reader stands beside Madison in the stormy, antebellum decades.' -- James Robertson in the Richmond News Leader.

Zusammenfassung
James Madison lived a truly extraordinary life, from a sickly teenager, through to a leading figure in the American Revolution and 'father of the constitution', to an old age in which he witnessed the effects of his Revolutionary actions. This is a prizewinning highly personal biography.

Inhalt
List of illustrations; Preface; Prologue; 1. The character of the good statesman; 2. The character of the good republic: justice, stability, and the constitution; 3. Retrospect and prospect: Congress and the perils of popular government; 4. Memory and meaning: nullification and the lost world of the founding; 5. The republic transformed: population, economy, and society; 6. Accommodation: the old dominion; 7. Despair: the peculiar institution; 8. Legacy: the strange career of William Cebell Rives; Epilogue; Acknowledgements; Index.