Blog
Published: 9/4/24
The Abraham Lincoln Book of Quotes (2023)
In "The Abraham Lincoln Book of Quotes," editor Travis Hellstrom presents some of the sixteenth president's "most loved wisdom.”
Published: 9/2/24
The Civil War’s Miracle Drugs
Medicine during the Civil War is often thought of as having been dangerous and backward. Surgeon General of the U.S. Army William A. Hammond, who served from 1861-1863, is supposed...
Published: 8/28/24
The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism (2024)
In "The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism," Niels Eichhorn and Duncan Campbell offer a convincing study of how the Civil War fit into broader international movements.
Published: 8/26/24
Extra Voices: Killing the Enemy
In the Voices section of our Summer 2024 issue we highlighted quotes by Union and Confederate soldiers that revealed their thoughts about killing the enemy. Unfortunately, we didn’t have room...
Published: 8/23/24
The Coffee Wagon
In 1863, Philadelphia pharmacist Jacob Dunton designed and built a coffee wagon he then donated to the United States Christian Commission (USCC), an organization whose volunteers (known as “delegates”) provided...
Published: 8/21/24
“Tell Mother Not to Worry” (2024)
Kirkwood’s study will undoubtedly appeal to Gettysburg aficionados. However, its utility should extend far beyond students of the conflict’s largest and costliest engagement.
Published: 8/19/24
Rivers Running Red
What does the mighty Mississippi have in common with the Potomac and Stones rivers? According to those who carve monuments and write local histories, on at least one occasion, all...
Published: 8/16/24
Death of a Patriotic Lady
In 1865, the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC), an organization whose volunteer members had worked to support sick and wounded Union troops during the conflict, published a book titled Soldiers’...
Published: 8/14/24
Texas Coastal Defense in the Civil War (2024)
William Nelson Fox’s new book supplies an introduction to military operations along the Texas Gulf Coast during the U.S. Civil War.
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Published: 8/12/24
Odd Civil War Photos, Pt. 1
The Civil War was the most widely covered conflict of the 19th century. While sketch artists followed the armies and captured, as best they could, scenes of camp and battle,...
Published: 8/7/24
Wide Awake (2024)
Jon Grinspan's "Wide Awake" is a must-read for 2024.
Published: 8/5/24
The Power of Place in Public History
How do we interact with the places around us? How did people in the past interact with these places? These are questions that pop into my mind when I am...
Published: 7/24/24
A Fire Bell in the Past, Vol. II (2021)
The contributors to this volume have interrogated new themes and examined old issues with new lenses.
Published: 7/22/24
Reporting on the Defeated South
Travel accounts from the immediate aftermath of the Civil War illuminate social, economic, and political conditions in the former Confederacy. Among the best are John Richard Dennett’s The South As...
Published: 7/17/24
We Shall Conquer or Die (2024)
With his debut book, Derrick Lindow has depicted an element of the war that certainly deserves more attention.
Published: 7/15/24
An Emotional Welcome Home
Ten days after Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, 19-year-old Susan Bradford recorded the reaction she and her family...
Published: 7/10/24
Convicting the Mormons (2023)
Janiece Johnson's "Convicting the Mormons" offers an engaging account of the narrative nineteenth century Americans created about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Published: 7/8/24
The New York City Draft Riots
In mid-July 1863, days after Union forces secured a victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, residents of Lower Manhattan began to riot in protest over enforcement of a previously enacted...