June 3, 2012
MarkBernstein.org
 

1861

by Adam Goodheart

A well-written collection of interesting and often-revealing vignettes of the earliest moments of the American Civil War, of the time when, it seems, anything might have happened and a great deal did. Goodheart has a knack for capturing large movements in small moments, mixed with a historian’s care to avoid excessive extrapolation or sentimental generalization.