Another death-centric read

[Mike]

Hayley Campbell's book got me thinking about this, which is tied for first place in best monographs I've read on the American Civil War. I'm not a military historian (and find accounts of maneuvers and battles to be dull) but the American Civil War is a nexus point in American History: Everything the US was prior led straight to it, everything since emanates from it. American society encountered more death by violent means in four short years than any nation before in history, and the War fundamentally altered our understanding and relationship with death.
If you only read one book about the American Civil War, read James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. If you read two, read this one as well.

[Mike]

Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War
This is my other favorite monograph, a great one to counter "BUT IT WAS ABOUT STATE'S RIGHTS" nonsense.

[Jen]

Thanks for the recommendation, I will get it on the shelf!