{"product_id":"the-ballad-of-the-fugitive-william-parker-a-true-tale-of-love-murder-treason-and-ordinary-folks-who-saved-america-september-8th-2026","title":"The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker: A True Tale of Love, Murder, Treason, and Ordinary Folks Who Saved America (September 8th, 2026)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e For fans of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eMaster Slave Husband Wife\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDjango Unchained\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecomes the extraordinary forgotten story of an event known in its day as \"the first shots of the Civil War,\" from the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eNew York Times\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebestselling author of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDr. Mütter's Marvels\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe year, 1851. The place, a Quaker farming community turned Underground Railroad stronghold, where a Maryland enslaver had journeyed in pursuit of four men who'd fled his plantation years before. In a few hours, he'd be dead...and twenty-seven men from the village of Christiana would be rounded up and put on trial. Not for his murder, but for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003etreason\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--for waging war against the United States, at a time when it was a crime against the government to obstruct an enslaver looking to reclaim his \"property.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is story of what happened in Christiana that September morning--and in the ensuing \"trial of the century,\" which saw the president himself advise the prosecution on strategy and a sitting congressman serve as lead attorney for the defense. But \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is also a much larger tale, one spanning decades, following a whole startlingly diverse community of abolitionists in their fight to convince their fellow Americans of the subversive idea that now found itself on trial: that the nation ought to live up the ideals it was founded on, and respect all men as equals.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt's a story that whisks readers from the quiet farmlands of Lancaster County--where a self-emancipated man named William Parker, whom legend had it bullets could not kill, rallied his neighbors to ride out each night to battle the slavecatchers who stalked their countryside--to Philadelphia's genteel Society Hill, where socialite Harriet Forten Purvis had the ear of the mayor (and a cellar filled with fugitives). It's stylish, propulsive, intimately human tale of bravery, ingenuity, and hope--and of ordinary people with little in common who came together to stand against injustice...and won.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":" The Bookshelf","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52627423166781,"sku":"9781668035931","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0695\/3235\/2829\/files\/TheBalladofFugitiveWilliamParker.jpg?v=1785359530","url":"https:\/\/bookshelfthomasville.com\/products\/the-ballad-of-the-fugitive-william-parker-a-true-tale-of-love-murder-treason-and-ordinary-folks-who-saved-america-september-8th-2026","provider":" The Bookshelf","version":"1.0","type":"link"}