The Bookshelf

"Spectacle of Grief" by Sarah J. Purcell is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand the paradoxes of American nationalism, either in the Civil War era or today.

"Gettysburg's Lost Love Story" by Jeffrey J. Harding is told with verve and a keen eye for descriptive detail.

"Love & Duty" by Angela Esco Elder demonstrates that not all Confederate widows midwifed the Lost Cause.

"Salmon P. Chase" by Walter Stahr is an admirable treatment of an oft-forgotten nineteenth century politician.

"Back From Battle" documents the valuable role that Pennsylvania's Camp Discharge played in the war's final months.

Susan Jonusas's "Hell's Half-Acre" spotlights the Benders as particularly monstrous actors on a stage covered in the blood of conquest and post-Civil War racial strife.

In "Harriet Tubman" Kerry Walters adds historical depth to the well-known abolitionist's life.

"To Address You as My Friend" assembles a wonderfully rich and fascinating mosaic of the hopes, dreams, and frustrations of African Americans during the Civil War.

"First Fallen" is a welcome addition to the literature that casts its gaze on the North and the men who rallied to the United States flag in 1861.

In "Our Comfort in Dying," Jonathan W. Peters brings together significant works by a Virginian who was notable not only as one of those who “rode with Stonewall,” but also as a major spiritual and intellectual thinker in the Civil War South.