1861: The Civil War Awakening

Synopsis
Adam Goodheart, one of the columnists who contributes to The New York Times series "Disunion," analyzes contemporary accounts of the run-up to and beginning of the Civil War.

My thoughts
Goodheart creates a fascinating portrait of the country as it slides inevitably toward civil war, laying out the causes of the war and capturing the mood of the country. It's a well-written, well-researched, and well-reasoned account, and even the detours are entertaining (there's a fun one on trends in facial hair in the nineteenth century). He relies on contemporary documents and focuses on a few carefully chosen subjects. This is the best way to immerse yourself in a distant time and Goodheart's subjects are interesting both for their individual experiences and the impact they had on the war.

One of the men he follows is a college professor, lawyer, and novice politician from Ohio—seemingly indistinguishable from hundreds of other Union supporters except that his name was James Garfield and he would go on to become the 20th president of the United States. Another is the charismatic leader of the Zouaves, an acrobatic but impractical unit in the Union army. A bonus for me: a colorful cameo by one of my friends' distant ancestors, an eccentric Texas politician. When we were growing up, my friend always joked that one of her ancestors started the Civil War ... at least I thought she was joking until I read 1861 and realized he kind of did—he bizarrely inserted himself into the action during the siege of Fort Sumter. Goodheart describes him as "[p]erhaps the feistiest Southerner of all." My friend describes him as "a nutter. We're very proud."

Bottom line
A must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in the Civil War. A must-buy for anyone with more than a passing interest.

Fine print
1861: The Civil War Awakening, by Adam Goodheart
Genre: history
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from the library