This book not only focuses on Chinn, but it also presents a complex, contested view of the social and moral ecology of the antebellum South and the nation. Myers extends that story to discuss current racial issues.
For readers interested in human rights, concentration camps, or the legal history of this period, this is an important work. Readers must determine for themselves how much the imagined parts reflect the legal advisors’ true experiences.
Like Bearden’s art, Gilmore’s biography pulses with energy and will resonate with readers of Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.