Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, and the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father, Fried Stephen

FINALIST FOR THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BOOK PRIZE - AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR

By the time he was thirty, Dr. Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence, edited Common Sense, toured Europe as Benjamin Franklins prot g , and become John Adamss confidant, and was soon to be appointed Washingtons surgeon general. And as with the greatest Revolutionary minds, Rush was only just beginning his role in 1776 in the American experiment. As the new republic coalesced, he became a visionary writer and reformer; a medical pioneer whose insights and reforms revolutionized the treatment of mental illness; an opponent of slavery and prejudice by race, religion, or gender; an adviser to, and often the physician of, Americas first leaders; and the American Hippocrates. Rush reveals his singular life and towering legacy, installing him in the pantheon of our wisest and boldest Founding Fathers.

Praise for Rush

Entertaining . . . Benjamin Rush has been undeservedly forgotten. In medicine . . . and] as a political thinker, he was brilliant.--The New Yorker

Superb . . . reminds us eloquently, abundantly, what a brilliant, original man Benjamin Rush was, and how his contributions to . . . the United States continue to bless us all.--The Philadelphia Inquirer

Perceptive . . . a] readable reassessment of Rushs remarkable career.--The Wall Street Journal

An amazing life and a fascinating book.--CBS This Morning

Fried makes the case, in this comprehensive and fascinating biography, that renaissance man Benjamin Rush merits more attention. . . . Fried portrays Rush as a complex, flawed person and not just a list of accomplishments; . . . a testament to the authorial thoroughness and insight that will keep readers engaged until the last page.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)