John Brown's Spy

October 15, 2012
For 10 days, this unlikely spy was "among the most wanted fugitives in the history of the United States." The son of prosperous Connecticut parents, John Cook tried his hand at law, clerking and sales before attaching himself, more out of romance than principle, to the abolitionist movement. He fought under the notorious militia of Capt. John Brown in Bloody Kansas. In 1858, Brown dispatched Cook to Harper's Ferry to gather information crucial to the plan to seize the federal arsenal, liberate slaves and take slave owners hostage. Following his capture after the failed raid and throughout the course of his trial, Cook's betrayal of the locals (he fathered a child and married during his time in town) earned him an enmity exceeding even that felt toward Brown. When it became clear that he would repudiate Brown and name the old man's "aiders or abettors" to save himself, Cook lost any support he might have received from Northern sympathizers. In this first full biography of any of Brown's followers, Lubet (Law/Northwestern Univ.; Fugitive Justice: Runaways, Rescuers, and Slavery on Trial, 2010, etc.) is especially effective at capturing the courtroom drama surrounding Brown, Cook and their captured confederates. With sharp portraits of the lawyers, clear explanations of their various machinations and evocative descriptions of the legal proceedings, he brings to life the charges of treason and murder, the pleas for mercy and the poignancy of Cook's pathetic confessions, insufficient for the prosecution, too little for the purposes of his defense, too shameless for Cook to maintain dignity, too detailed for Brown's idolaters to bear. At age 30, the reckless Cook was hanged, mourned only by his wife and still-loving sisters. A crisply told tale fleshing out one of American history's more intriguing footnotes.

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Starred review from November 1, 2012

With a dramatist's gift for storytelling, Lubet (law, Northwestern Univ.; The Importance of Being Honest: How Lying, Secrecy, and Hypocrisy Collide with Truth in Law) brings to life John E. Cook, a key coconspirator in the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, and the capture and trial of John Brown's confederates. The particular genius of Lubet's book is in his accounting of Cook and the other men in Brown's so-called army, most of whom have been little studied. He also untangles the jurisdictional and legal issues surrounding decisions about how and where Brown and the other captives were tried and shows how Cook's confession after the raid provided enough specific witness to condemn his compatriots yet not enough to give away the whole conspiracy. Cook's prominence was brief, as the "martyrdom" of Brown on the gallows eclipsed memory of the others and even redeemed Cook's seeming betrayal. VERDICT Lubet's book will not much change the story line on Brown's raid and its meaning, but it does take readers on a ride through the frantic days surrounding Brown's raid that will make them "feel" the moment as much as understand it. Recommended.--Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2012
Lubet, Williams Memorial Professor of Law at Northwestern University, brings to center stage a man who, until now, has been a footnote in American history: John E. Cook, one of the chief architects of the Harper's Ferry armory raid, in 1859. John Brown, alone of his men, has grabbed the historical spotlight. This compulsively readable history's focus on Cook gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at both this gentleman rogue and all the machinations that led to the disastrous raid and the trial and imprisonment of both Brown and Cook. Lubet emphasizes the moral choices made by both men. Most perplexing are the choices made by Cook, who spied for Brown in order to set up the raid, knew more than anyone about the plan, and then betrayed Brown. Lubet's narrative starts from the Charlestown and Virginia jail cells in which Brown and Cook spent their last days, juxtaposing their characters and choices from the start. Lubet traces the origins of the raid, the raid itself, and its aftermath, all as a lens onto the Civil War. He sustains a compelling narrative (especially in showing how the way that Brown spoke at his trial and execution greatly aided the abolitionist cause) while strewing his tale with fascinating details, like the fact that actor John Wilkes Booth attended Brown's execution. Riveting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)