this was a interesting read, I enjoyed learning about the trial of Andrew Johnson. It was a great read and was well researched.

This book took me by surprise. I only asked to see it because i knew that my knowledge of Johnson was limited, but this book provided a lot of interesting detail into this much misunderstood and maligned president.

The title and cover of the book drew my attention as I was scrolling through the political section on NetGalley. I've never really been much of a reader into American History, but I do enjoy a political biography so I thought I'd give this a spin for my first Advance Read Copy.
The book starts off well, giving a chapter to Andrew Johnson's early life, we learn that he was name after the American populist President Andrew Jackson and was a contemporary of James K Polk as a young man. He had grown up poor much like Andrew Jackson and prided himself on his upbringing, later using it as testament to his incorruptible character.
Prior to reading this book my only real knowledge of Andrew Johnson was the following: 1) He succeeded Abraham Lincoln as President whilst he was Vice-President, 2) He was the first President to be impeached. As a result I was pleased, that this book would me to learn more about him as a President, man, Vice President and politician in general.
The author wrote the book over 40 years ago, something which wasn't disclosed in the form but nevertheless history doesn't change. Gerson's words are concise and the book is not very long, it took me about three hours to read it on my kindle, and probably would have been a bit disappointed at its length if I had paid for the ebook. Naturally the hardcover shows the size of the book, so the point would have been muted.
Gerson writes in a very descriptive style which lends well to the story of Andrew Johnson, often history books are filled with the author's opinion on matters and not the facts of the events, whilst Gerson is clearly in favour of Johnson's presidency the facts are laid bare about Johnson in this book and he comes off a lot better than most historians, primarily Gerson tries to maintain the facade the Johnson was a fiercly independent man. As Johnson was the only Senator of the South to remain tied to the Union you could put across the point that he was, but other historians may say that Johnson merely wanted power, but again a historian can argue those points I'm merely here to review the book!
To conclude, if you are interested in American history, or biographies I would recommend you purchase this book, it is also a good starter if you are unfamiliar with reading political biographies as it is relatively short and doesn't mess around with unnecessary exposition and opinion.

Noel B Gerson was a prodigious author of many books; the majority of which were historical in theme. He was an unabashed patriot with a great deal of his books concerned with U.S. history. Among his better known works are "55 Days at Peking" the "Naked Maja" and the "Swamp Fox" The "Trial of Andrew Johnson" was first published in 1977 and brings to light a figure previously not greatly touched upon in American history. Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the U.S. and as the vice president during Abraham Lincoln's term ascended to the office when Mr. Lincoln was assassinated.
Like Lincoln before him Johnson came from a very poor family and lifted himself up by his own bootstraps, teaching himself how to read and write. He got into politics and made a stump speaker out of himself. Rising through a progression of offices for his home state of Tennessee he was selected by Lincoln to run as his vice president and held that office during the tumultuous years of the Civil war and until elevated to the presidency by Lincoln's assassination.
After the cessation of hostilities Johnson championed the reentrance of those states that had seceded as part of the Confederacy with no penalty providing that affidavits of loyalty be signed by residents and elected officials as conditions of acceptance back into the union. He faced a large group of members of Congress that wanted to lay blame for the war and charge reparations to the seceding states. When Johnson could not be moved from his position the never before use of impeachment with an ensuing trial and forced removal from office was started by those that demanded blame be placed on the recalcitrant states.
Mr. Gerson's forte was the writing of historical fact in a manner that made reading his books almost a work of enjoying a good novel while learning about the area the author was touching upon. It would be interesting to read again or for the first time those books that are reissued. His writing is not dated and would appeal to all that do enjoy a good historical book.

Many thanks once again to Sapere Books for allowing the readers at large to discover or rediscover the marvellous and very accessible books written by the late Noel Gerson.

Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the Union and the first one to be impeached without being convicted. A very popular Southern politician and a great orator, this maverick from Tennessee became a US senator before the Civil War and remained faithful to the Union during the entire conflict. In 1864 he ran with Lincoln on the Republican ticket and was rewarded for his steadfast political support with the vice presidency.
Following Lincoln's death the following year, he became US president but his repeated clashes with the Republican Congress over the reconstruction of the Southern States after the war led him to be tried and impeached in 1868.

Jackson kept vetoing any legislation passed to protect the rights of those who had been recently freed from slavery. A major bone of contention that eventually brought impeachment upon his presidency. Fortunately for him, conviction was defeated by a sufficient minority that wanted to protect the constitutional balance of power and the presidency.

Noel Gerson's numerous biographies and biographical novels about the United States are the perfect introduction to its great history. In my case they not only helped me to improve my skills in English, they also awakened a passion for American history ever since. Hopefully Sapere will keep offering more of Gerson's books in the future!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sapere Books for giving the opportunity to read this wonderful biography prior to its release date