I was going to take some students in my Civil War America course to Gettysburg this weekend. They were excited about going to the cemetery and reading the Gettysburg Address on November 19, the day it was delivered by Lincoln […]
Civil War
The Author’s Corner with Adam D. Mendelsohn
Adam D. Mendelsohn is Associate Professor of Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town. This interview is based on his new book, Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army (NYU Press, 2022). JF: What led you to […]
The Author’s Corner with Catherine V. Bateson
Catherine V. Bateson is Associate Lecturer of American History and American Studies Chief Examiner at the University of Kent. This interview is based on her new book, Irish American Civil War Songs: Identity, Loyalty, and Nationhood (LSU Press, 2022). JF: […]
The Author’s Corner with Evan C. Rothera
Evan C. Rothera is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith. This interview is based on his new book, Civil Wars and Reconstructions in the Americas: The United States, Mexico, and Argentina, 1860–1880 (LSU Press, 2022). […]
William Tecumseh Sherman: emancipator of the enslaved
Here is historian Bennett Parten at Zocalo Public Square: Americans get Sherman’s March all wrong. Ask anyone who’s seen Gone with the Wind, and they’ll tell you that U.S. General William T. Sherman’s roughly 250-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah marked […]
Historian Jeremi Suri on Abraham Lincoln’s funeral
Here is an excerpt of Suri’s new book Civil War By Other Means. It is published at Lit Hub: The reverence for the slain president grew in coming days. On April 19, a horse-drawn hearse carried Lincoln’s body to the […]
Slavery was the cause of the American Civil War
Most historians agree with the title of this post. So do many Americans. But there are others who still claim that the Civil War was about something other than slavery. Watch: Yesterday I showed this video to my Civil War […]
The Author’s Corner with Megan Bever
Megan Bever is Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Social Sciences Department at Missouri Southern State University. This interview is based on her new book, At War with King Alcohol: Debating Drinking and Masculinity in the Civil War […]
Eric Foner: “We can’t accept the principle that the way to judge a course of study is by how much money you will make.”
Eric Foner reflects on his life as a historian in this interview with Nawal Arjini at New York Review of Books. A taste: Nawal Arjini: How did you come to specialize in Civil War history? Eric Foner: When I was in college in […]
The Author’s Corner with Jesse Olsavsky
Jesse Olsavsky is Assistant Professor of History at Duke Kunshan University. This interview is based on his new book, The Most Absolute Abolition: Runaways, Vigilance Committees, and the Rise of Revolutionary Abolitionism, 1835–1861 (LSU Press, 2022). JF: What led you to […]
What Liz Cheney forgot to mention on Tuesday night about U.S. Grant and the end of the Civil War
On Tuesday night, Liz Cheney referenced General Ulysses S. Grant’s leadership of the Union army in 1864: In May of 1864, after years of war, and a string of reluctant Union generals, Ulysses S. Grant met General Lee’s forces at […]
Tom Nichols: “The United States now faces a different kind of violence, from people who believe in nothing…”
Political scientist Tom Nichols largely rejects the comparison between our current age and the United States Civil War. As he puts it, “at least the Civil war…was about something.” Here is a taste of his piece at The Atlantic: The […]
The Author’s Corner with Brad R. Clampitt
Brad R. Clampitt is Professor of History at East Central University. This interview is based on his new book, Lost Causes: Confederate Demobilization and the Making of Veteran Identity (LSU Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Lost Causes? […]
The Author’s Corner with Anna Koivusalo
Anna Koivusalo is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies at the University of Helsinki. This interview is based on her new book, The Man Who Started the Civil War: James Chesnut, Honor, and Emotion […]
The Author’s Corner with Holly A. Pinheiro Jr.
Holly A. Pinheiro Jr. is Assistant Professor of African American History at Furman University. This interview is based on his new book, The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice (University of Georgia Press, 2022). JF: […]
The Author’s Corner with Paul Escott
Paul Escott is Reynolds Professor of History Emeritus at Wake Forest University. This interview is based on his new book, Black Suffrage: Lincoln’s Last Goal (University of Virginia Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Black Suffrage? PE: My two […]
The Author’s Corner with Elizabeth Leonard
Elizabeth Leonard is Gibson Professor of History, Emerita at Colby College. This interview is based on her new book, Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life (The University of North Carolina Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Benjamin Franklin […]
Thursday night with the North Jersey Civil War Roundtable
Looking forward to this ZOOM talk. Request link by Tuesday, May 24 at NJCivilWarRT@aol.com This is a free event and open to the public. SPEAKER AND PROGRAM “BOTH PRAYED TO THE SAME GOD” PRESENTED BY PROF. JOHN FEA The Civil War […]
The Author’s Corner with Angela Esco Elder
Angela Esco Elder is Associate Professor of History at Converse University. This interview is based on her new book, Love and Duty: Confederate Widows and the Emotional Politics of Loss (The University of North Carolina Press, 2022). JF: What led […]
The Author’s Corner with David K. Thomson
David K. Thomson is Assistant Professor of History at Sacred Heart University. This interview is based on his new book, Bonds of War: How Civil War Financial Agents Sold the World on the Union (University of North Carolina Press, 2022). […]