Andrew Jackson - The Border Captain

by Marquis James

“The Border Captain” published in 1934 covers Jackson’s youth, military service and time as the Governor of Florida and as a U.S. Senator.

Genres: Biography, History

484 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1934

Reviews

[Miles Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

James' Jackson biography is a work of fair to good history. As a work of literary merit, it is perhaps unsurpassed in Jacksonian historiography. There is very little in the way of new raw sourcing that James includes. His bibliography is quite pedestrian and includes standard sources available to most any biographer in the interwar era. James' Border Captain stands apart from its chronological peers becuase he was the first truly great writer to undertake Jackson's biography. Jackson biographies littered the years between the publication of James Parton's magnificient three volume tome in 1860 and James in 1933, but none were great or even good. Bassett's was serviceable, scholarly, and dull. Tom Watson wrote a populist screed. Augustus Buell's Jackson included sources that were outright inventions of Buell himself.

Of the multi-volume Jackson biographies, three are great. Parton and Robert Remini are exhaustive and excellent works of scholarship. James' greatness lay in the beauty of the prose. There are quite a few Jackson biographies. There are few beautfil ones. Marquis James' is perhaps the most beautiful.

[Kevin Newton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so it took me a year to read the close to 800 page Andrew Jackson tome. I put it down, a lot. There were some slow parts. While I enjoyed it, the author could have skipped a few if the smaller details.

On to Van Buren.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

People say Washington was the indispensable man. He was for his time. And after his death, no one else could have brought America to its heights like Andrew Jackson. James tells that story in delicious detail.

[Gerald Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading my 1933 edition in spite of its age.
The final chapter mentioned how the city of Nashville had municipal slaves. Something I never knew. This is a pragmatic read of American history.

[George Shagley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal biography of Andrew Jackson’s life leading up to his presidency. It is beautifully written and composed. Several times I audibly gasped at what I was reading; he was truly an amazing man. A must-read for anyone interested in Andrew Jackson or early America. I am very excited to read the second volume. I would give it six stars, if I could.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't know Jackson until you've read James, THE authority on him. He won the Pulitzer for his well researched biography of Jackson which was two volumes, the other being Portrait of a President.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collectors item. Border Captain is Volumn I and Volumn II which deals with the latter part of Jackson's Life are found in one book called The Life of Andrew Jackson. They were by James Marquis in 1934 and in 1936 and in 1938 won the Pulizer Prize. I got this at a book sale at the Library of a Omaha Catholic School. It's both books bound together. (There are modern reprints)

It's very detailled and much in the academic style of the 1930's. The good and the bad of Andrew Jackson are given without much judgemental comment. You really get a feeling for the man and the times.

Harry Truman had a copy of this book (unfortunately not mine) on his night stand.

This is my prized book. 6 Stars.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written back in the 1930's, his voice is a bit dense compared to today's USA Today style. I had difficulty discerning some important turning points in an ocean of well-documented, but sometimes confusing, events. I chuckled as I realized how poorly the Federal government of that day handled some things... some things never change.

A good book to learn more about America during the post-Revolutionary/pre-Civil War era.

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read about this president who definitely could not qualify today. A man of self-described honor who did so many things that today seem utterly dishonorable (gambling, slaving, cheating Indians...).He was "swift, untechnical, fiercely impartial, fiercely jealous of prerogatives and good name".

[P.J. Sullivan]

Volume one of the standard bio of Andrew Jackson.