One paradox of the New England Transcendentalists has always been that despite their reputation as the consummate individualists, historiography about them has often reached for group biography. In Conflagration: How Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice, the Rev. Dr. John A. Buehrens joins a long tradition—from Carlos Baker to Philip Gura—of telling the story of Transcendentalism as a group history. He recounts the development of Transcendentalism by focusing on their contributions to social reform and fights for political equality. Conflagration is an accessible, engaging, and insightful introduction to the story of Transcendentalism. At the same time, its detailed history of the lives and ideas of a number of lesser-known figures will contribute to the academic study of the movement.
Buehrens starts his narrative with a moment that does not receive much attention from historians of Transcendentalism: the tragic and fiery death of Charles Follen, a...