An accessible, deeply researched, and learned account of the life of William Apess and his times"". - H-Net Reviews ""This outstanding biography is essential reading for those interested in either Native American studies or American literature"". - Library Journal , starred review ""Meticulously researched and engaging. Chronicles Apess's life from his impoverished childhood to his peripatetic adolescence and conversion to Methodism to his activism on behalf of Native Americans"". - Register of the Kentucky Historical Society ""[An] important and timely biography. Contributes significantly to the rediscovery of Apess"". - American Indian Culture and Research Journal ""Engaging and well researched. Sophisticated and accessible, especially as a work of Indian-white history"".

- Reviews in American History ""Well-researched and enlightening."" - Booklist ""Gura helps readers understand the intersections of forms of racial prejudice, discrimination, and oppression in early America"". - Common-place: The Journal of Early American Life ""Gura makes a compelling case for ranking Apess among well-known nineteenth-century figures who shared his commitment to what we might now call social justice. Make[s] the most of limited historical evidence to bring a truly exceptional figure to life"". - Journal of the Early Republic ""[An] engaging, insightful, and thoroughly detailed biography"". - Publishers Weekly , starred review ""A readable book that belongs in all undergraduate collections"". - CHOICE ""Well written, and meticulously researched, Gura has provided here a masterfully written biography that should be the interest of scholars, and non-academics alike, to this truly fascinating individual"". - Historical Journal of Massachusetts.