I am interested in reading an in-depth biography of John Randolph of Roanoke for a personal project. Does anyone have any recommendations for such a book?
Disclaimer: I have not actually read any of these books.
I was able to quickly find about half a dozen biographies of Randolph, of which these are the most notable:
"John Randolph of Roanoke" by David E. Johnson is the most recent biography and takes advantage of source material that wasn't available to older biographers. Reviews are mixed to positive; one review on Amazon says that it feels at times more like a collection of Randolph's speeches than an actual biography. Other reviews are much more positive.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13790671-john-randolph-of-roanoke"John Randolph of Roanoke: A Study in American Politics, With Selected Speeches and Letters" by Russell Kirk was originally published in 1951. Kirk was one of the leading conservative philosophers of the 20th century and thus has a deep knowledge of Randolph's philosophical outlook. Reviews praise the book for well-explained historical context and are overall very positive. Given Kirk's worldview I suspect this is a very sympathetic biography.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/781383.John_Randolph_of_Roanoke?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=HkIwfCP3cB&rank=1"John Randolph" by Henry Adams was originally published in 1882. Adams, the grandson of John Quincy Adams and great-grandson of John Adams, had access to many archives and sources that were unavailable to most researchers and historians at the time, and is best known as the author of
The History of the United States under the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison, a nine-volume series that is considered one of the finest works of American historical literature. As can be expected from an Adams, this biography is harshly critical. The most recent printing contains a 17-page foreword placing the biography in its proper historical context. One review on Goodreads calls this Adams' finest work of pure biography. Overall, reviews I can find are mixed to positive, leaning toward positive.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3691353-john-randolph?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=JimU8mm8DD&rank=1Randolph definitely seems like an interesting character who I'd like to read more about, and he's on my list of people to dig into more once I finish reading through the Presidents. The newest biography seems a bit dry, so I'll probably go with Kirk and Adams for dueling historical perspectives.
