In Civil War author C. Kay Larsons new work of fiction, South Under a Prairie Sky: The Journal of Nell Churchill, U.S. Army Nurse & Scout, our teenaged heroine grows up in Monmouth, Illinois in the antebellum era. Nell begins her journal entries in 1856, as unrest breaks out in Kansas over the slavery issue. Her relatives flee the state and take refuge at the Churchill farm home, finally settling in Monmouth.In real life, Nell Churchill was Larsons great-great grandmothers...

Lincolns Loyal Lady: Anna Ella Carroll, a Brief The story of Abraham Lincolns female kitchen cabinet member?a formidable, trailblazing woman?is a tale some dont want to be told. Anna Ella Carroll broke all the rules for a woman of the Civil War era. A politician, pamphleteer, adviser to President Lincoln, and military secret agent, Carroll operated in the highest political and government circles for more than a quarter of a century. Washington, DC, the White House, May 12, 1862 I will tell...

Marylanders All is an intriguing look at the lives of ten Dorchester County figures of the eighteenth through the twenty-first centuries. These nine men and one woman, as well as many of their family members, influenced local, state, and national events in war- and peacetime. This work makes clear that Dorchester County made historical contributions way out of proportion to its geographic size. In these pages, Brannock and Larson relate the actions of formidable individuals, such as young ...

Do You Think You Know the Civil War?The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War clears the powder smoke surrounding the war that changed America forever. The perfect guide for anyone looking for great history facts like:What were the best, the worst, the largest, and the most lethal aspects of the conflict?What are the top ten causes?The bloodiest battles?With over thirty annotated top ten lists and unexpected...

In this major new history of the Civil War, Bruce Levine tells the riveting story of how that conflict upended the economic, political, and social life of the old South, utterly destroying the Confederacy and the society it represented and defended. Told through the words of the people who lived it, The Fall of the House of Dixie illuminates the way a war undertaken to preserve the status quo became a second American Revolution whose impact on the country was as strong and lasting...

This innovative blend of biography and history “lets readers browse through a Civil War’s worth of presidential decisions” (Booklist).In this book, journalist Stephen A. Wynalda has constructed a detailed breakdown of president Abraham Lincoln’s decisions in office, in day-by-day chronological order—including his signing of the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862; his signing of the legislation enacting the first federal income tax on August 5, 1861; and more pe...

This fascinating compendium examines the legacy of the War Between the States.At the Washington Post, the Civil War has held an enduring fascination for both readers and writers. Raging from 1861 to 1865, the War Between the States has left a lasting imprint on the United States's collective psyche for 150 years. Civil War Stories: A 150th Anniversary Collection aggregates historical data with contemporary reflections, as journalists and historia...

Instant coffee was invented during the Civil War for use by Union troops, who hated it; holding races between lice was a popular pastime for both Johnny Reb and Billy Yank; 13% of the Confederate Army deserted during the conflict. These are three of the hundreds of bits of knowledge that Mike Wright makes available in his informative and entertaining What They Didn't Teach You About the Civil War, which focuses on the lives and ways of ordinary soldiers and of those they left behind.

The Civil War is the greatest trauma ever experienced by the American nation, a four-year paroxysm of violence that left in its wake more than 600,000 dead, more than 2 million refugees, and the destruction (in modern dollars) of more than $700 billion in property. The war also sparked some of the most heroic moments in American history and enshrined a galaxy of American heroes. Above all, it permanently ended the practice of slavery and proved, in an age of resurgent monarchies, that a li...

**Using letters, diaries, and regimental newspapers to take us inside the minds of Civil War soldiers—black and white, Northern and Southern—as they fought and marched across a divided country, this unprecedented account is “an essential contribution to our understanding of slavery and the Civil War" (**The Philadelphia Inquirer).In this unprecedented account, Chandra Manning With stunning poise and narrative verve, Manning explores how the Union and Confe...

As the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches, the fascination with all things Civil War continues ever more strongly. With I Used to Know That: Civil War, snippets of history class will come rushing back as you recall that:The mere election of Abraham Lincoln pushed seven Southern states to secede. Distinguished soldier and military strategist Robert E. Lee was offered command of the U.S. Army two days before he was chosen to lead the rebel army of Northern Virginia...

The stirring history of a president and a capital city on the front lines of war and freedom.In the late 1840s, Representative Abraham Lincoln resided at Mrs. Sprigg’s boardinghouse on Capitol Hill. Known as Abolition House, Mrs. Sprigg’s hosted lively dinner-table debates of antislavery politics by the congressional boarders. The unusually rapid turnover in the enslaved staff suggested that there were frequent escapes north to freedom from Abolition House, likely ...