The Heart of the Commonwealth

"Brooke has reaffirmed the importance of regional differences. He successfully incorporates economic, social, and religious experiences without sacrificing the centrality of political thought...Brooke's study from the bottom up brings American realities back into the picture by successfully integrating local religious, economic, and social thought with the voices of the elite." William and Mary Quarterly "John L. Brooke has produced a lucidly written, tightly organized, well-argued work that uses Worcester County to integrate political history with changing intellectual, social, and economic variables...Brooke has produced an exceptionally fine book...historians of all periods of American antebellum history will find a great deal of interest in his work." The Journal of American History "All historians of early America will have to reckon with this outstanding study of central Massachusetts...Brooke demonstrates how republican and liberal ideas provided competing patterns of meaning for the culture that emerged in central Massachusetts, and he shows how the anaylsis of text as rhetoric can illuminate social, economic, and political development." American Historical Review "Upon publication, The Heart of the Commonwealth will be immediately recognized as an exciting piece of scholarship... it is a sophisticated narrative that shows the relationships among all facets of New England life." James A. Henretta, University of Maryland, College Park "In The Heart of the Commonwealth, John L. Brooke uses an impressive analytical ability and a splendid command of data sources and the literature to combine economic, intellectual, political, and social streams to form a rich narrative of the transformation of central Massachusetts from the Peace of Utrecht to the Civil War...[A]n excellent exmaple of how we might move toward a more inclusive analysis of rural economic transformation." Clyde A. Haulman, Journal of the Early Republic