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