At the Edge of the Precipice

Henry Clay was a Southerner who favored union over sectionalism and a slave owner who understood how the institution of slavery could tear the country apart. He also was a consummate politician who understood the value of true compromise--when each side gives up something to gain something important. Clay was the architect of the Compromise of 1820. This book profiles the efforts to craft a legislative package that would prevent a civil war in 1850. It is part social history and part political science primer on the legislative process. William Hughes reads the book with an air of solemnity but not somnolence. He varies his pacing, especially during quoted material, when he slows down noticeably, offering a kind of aural quotation marks. R.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine