First published 2016
The New York Times ran a acclaimed series called Disunion from 2011 to 2015, marking Civil War anniversaries with fresh perspectives on America's bloodiest conflict. Editor Ted Widmer curates the best pieces alongside Clay Risen and George Kalogerakis. The collection spans Lincoln's election through Appomattox and beyond, moving chronologically through four years of war. Contributors include leading historians and personal storytellers connected through family letters or ancestors. David Blight examines Frederick Douglass welcoming South Carolina's secession as a catalyst for abolition. Elizabeth R. Varon shows how North and South competed to claim women's moral authority. Harold Holzer analyzes Lincoln's strategic silence between election and inauguration, dubbed "masterful inactivity" by supporters. The anthology balances major events like Gettysburg and Fredericksburg with overlooked incidents that reveal new angles. Previously unheard voices of women, freed African Americans, and Native Americans appear alongside familiar figures like Lincoln, Grant, and Lee. The book covers secession, slavery, battles, domestic politics, and global implications across the war's complete timeline.
Genres: american-civil-war, anthologies, american-fiction, 20th-century, biography-memoir, 21st-century, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, personal-stories
Setting: Appomattox, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, New York, South Carolina
Period: Civil War, Election, Inauguration
392 pages · Hardcover · Oxford University Press