On Tuesday, September 18, 2012, the Friends of Hackney Library sponsored a book signing with Dr. Jeff Broadwater. Some fifty people attended the event, which took place from 5:30 – 7:00 pm in Hackney Library. Dr. Broadwater spoke for about thirty minutes about James Madison, highlighting anecdotes and other aspects of the book.

Broadwater, professor of history at Barton College, signed copies of his latest book, James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a Founder of the Nation (University of North Carolina Press, 2012). The book is a selection of the History Book Club, Military Book Club, and Book-of-the-Month Club.

Although occurring one day later, the book signing also commemorated Constitution Day (traditionally celebrated on the date of its signing, September 17) by highlighting Madison, a signatory and one of the most ardent supporters of the adoption of the United States Constitution. The event was also part of Hackney Library’s “Celebrating Academic Excellence” series.

Broadwater's James Madison has already received much acclaim: According to reviewer Frederick J. Augustyn, Jr. in Library Journal, "in an engagingly formulated work of synthesis, Broadwater offers a compelling view of the essential Madison by mindfully drawing upon the works of previous historians...without being derivative....Broadwater's clear writing style and contextual explanations make this work especially appealing to incipent scholars and general readers" (April 1, 2012, p. 86). Similarly, Kirkus Reviews states that in Broadwater's book, "an essential American philosopher and president gains a substantive treatment" (December 15, 2011, p. 2296).

From Broadwater’s perspective, no single figure can tell us more about the origins of the American republic than James Madison. In this biography, Broadwater focuses on Madison’s role in the battle for religious freedom in Virginia, his contributions to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, his place in the evolution of the party system, his relationship with wife Dolley Madison, his performance as a wartime commander in chief, and his views on slavery.

A lawyer, historian, and scholar, Broadwater is the author of three previous books about leaders in American history and politics: Eisenhower and the Anti-Communist Crusade (1992); Adlai Stevenson and American Politics (1994); and George Mason, Forgotten Founder (2006), which received the Richard Slattern Award for biography from the Virginia Historical Society and was listed among the Washington Post’s Best Non-Fiction Books of 2006. Broadwater has also written a chapter titled “James Madison and the Dilemma of American Slavery” for A Companion to James Madison and James Monroe, which is to be published by Wiley Blackwell.

View our Facebook photo album for photos taken at the event.