Summer 2018

Vol. 8, No. 2

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Fourth of July celebrations during the Civil War

Features

The Decision
Why did Robert E. Lee turn down command of the Union army and join the Confederacy in 1861? It’s complicated.
By Allen C. Guelzo

An Unlikely Battleground
Fourth of July observations during the Civil War reflected the country’s thorniest questions—including which Americans could claim the holiday as their own.
By Paul Quigley

Soldiers of Misfortune
Financial motives drove Union recruiting as much as more altruistic incentives.
By William Marvel

Departments

Editorial: Changes, Big and Small

Salvo: Facts, Figures & Items of Interest

Travels: A Visit to Yorktown
Voices: Big Talk
Faces of War: Major Hapgood and His Famous Clerk
Figures: Men of Faith
Preservation: Keeping Seminary Ridge Sacred
Cost of War: A Seized Banner Pays Off
In Focus: Shedding Light on a Famous Photo

Columns:

American Iliad: The Making of a Hero, by Mark Grimsley

Public History: Whither Public History?, by John Coski

Books & Authors:

The Best Gettysburg Books
With Allen C. Guelzo, Lawrence Korczyk, Brian Matthew Jordan, Ethan S. Rafuse,
Lesley J. Gordon, and Jennifer M. Murray

The Books That Built Me
By Stephen W. Sears

Parting Shot: Satterlee’s Saw