"For years I have wanted a compact, carefully edited collection of Frederick Douglass' writings and speeches spanning his whole career—from the antebellum years to the Civil War and Reconstruction to the retreat from racial democracy in the 1870s, '80s, and '90s. Finally, in Nicholas Buccola's expertly edited The Essential Douglass: Selected Writings & Speeches, I have it. Buccola has done teachers and scholars of American political thought a tremendous service by making a truly representative selection of Douglass' achievement available in an affordable volume. I am excited to assign this book to my students and share with them the full breadth of Douglass' intellectual fire." —Jack Turner, University of Washington

" The Essential Douglass is essential reading for students of American politics and American political thought. Nick Buccola does a masterful job of enriching and enhancing our acquaintance with Frederick Douglass, the author, orator, and abolitionist. In this volume, we see Douglass in his full range and in his full capacity as an American statesman." —Susan McWilliams, Pomona College