Blogs

On October 4, 2020, The Good Lord Bird, a 7-part miniseries about the life of abolitionist John Brown—based on the award-winning novel of the same name by James McBride—premiered on Showtime. We enlisted historian Megan Kate Nelson to watch and review the series, episode by episode. We'll publish her takes below, as each episode airs. 

On October 4, 2020, The Good Lord Bird, a 7-part miniseries about the life of abolitionist John Brown—based on the award-winning novel of the same name by James McBride—premiered on Showtime. We enlisted historian Megan Kate Nelson to watch and review the series, episode by episode. We'll publish her takes below, as each episode airs. 

Brian Taylor's "Fighting for Citizenship" gives nuance to a debate that is all too often limited to an invocation of the famous 'Men of Color! To Arms' poster...

"My Dear Nelly" reveals Orlando Poe to be a man of both ability and no little ego, but one who struggled for distinction in the field and for control over affairs at home.

On October 4, 2020, The Good Lord Bird, a 7-part miniseries about the life of abolitionist John Brown—based on the award-winning novel of the same name by James McBride—premiered on Showtime. We enlisted historian Megan Kate Nelson to watch and review the series, episode by episode. We'll publish her takes below, as each episode airs. 

"Unforgiven" presents a unique, tense, and absorbing twist on an unprecedented moment in U.S. Civil War and judicial history.

On October 4, 2020, The Good Lord Bird, a 7-part miniseries about the life of abolitionist John Brown—based on the award-winning novel of the same name by James McBride—premiered on Showtime. We enlisted historian Megan Kate Nelson to watch and review the series, episode by episode. We'll publish her takes below, as each episode airs. 

For decades, books about the Confederate homefront were often books about elite white slave-owning women—first Lost Cause-era flowery homages to their patriotism and dedication to the Confederacy, then more critical analyses drawing on the reams of letters and diaries they left behind. The homefront was often constructed as a bounded space, generally far away from the battlefield, virtually...

"She Came to Slay" is a model of how to write an engaging text for a younger, general audience.

On October 4, 2020, The Good Lord Bird, a 7-part miniseries about the life of abolitionist John Brown—based on the award-winning novel of the same name by James McBride—premiered on Showtime. We enlisted historian Megan Kate Nelson to watch and review the series, episode by episode. We'll publish her takes below, as each episode airs. 

In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in hopes of obtaining the necessary weapons to arm a successful slave insurrection throughout the region. The raid failed, and by year's end Brown was dead, hanged after being convicted of treason and inciting slave insurrection. The impact of his actions would live on, however; Brown remained a...

Mary A. DeCredico's "Confederate Citadel" reminds us of the importance of place and space to national sovereignty.

On October 4, 2020, The Good Lord Bird, a 7-part miniseries about the life of abolitionist John Brown—based on the award-winning novel of the same name by James McBride—premiered on Showtime. We enlisted historian Megan Kate Nelson to watch and review the series, episode by episode. We'll publish her takes below, as each episode airs. 

"My Remembrance of the War" is a well-told and wonderfully curated firsthand recollection...an engrossing coming-of-age narrative.

On October 4, 2020, "The Good Lord Bird," a 7-part miniseries about the life of abolitionist John Brown—based on the novel of the same name by James McBride—premeried on Showtime. We enlisted historian Megan Kate Nelson to watch and review the series, episode by episode. We'll publish her takes below, as each episode airs. 

Looking for a Civil War event—virtual or in person—to attend in October? Here are some good options... 

Lucas E. Morel's "Lincoln and the American Founding" shows how the sixteenth president used his knowledge of the nation’s founders to oppose slavery.

“We were forced to breathe dust freely, but through the clouds which rose wherever the regiment moved we caught refreshing views of stately homesteads, blushing orchards, and autumn-tinted landscapes.

Donald Frazier's "Tempest Over Texas" offers a fine-grained account of a six-month period in a theater that most people do not know very much about.

A roundup of books that do the best job in capturing the African-American Civil War experience.