A ruined land : the end of the Civil War / Michael Golay.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Golay, Michael, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Social aspects.

United States.

History.

Social aspects.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Peace.

Peace.

Reconstruction.

United States--Politics and government--1865-1869.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xv, 384 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : John Wiley, [1999]

Summary:

As the Civil War drew to a close, its final battles and unsolved issues left a complex legacy of pain. Southern plantation owners stripped of their land struggled to find a way to survive amid shortages, and watched the growing changes around them with resentment and fear. Newly freed slaves searched for a way to make a home in a land that had viewed them as chattel. Northern reformers struggled to educate an enormous population of former slaves to prepare them for a new life.

In a fascinating approach that allows the voices of those who were there to speak to the reader, gifted writer Michael Golay shows the impact of victory and defeat on the ordinary Americans who both influenced events and were caught up in them. Through careful research coupled with compassion, Golay takes a unique perspective by interweaving personal histories of soldiers and civilians with the larger events of the Civil War.

Contents:

Time Line viii

Cast of Characters xiii

Part 1 War and Revolution 1

1 Honey Hill 3

2 The Laws of War 35

3 The Sherman Lands 65

Part 2 The End of the War 97

4 The Smoky March 99

5 The Shell of Rebellion 136

6 Booth and His Crime 172

Part 3 Something Like Peace 205

7 Exile and Return 207

8 Crime, Punishment, Absolution 242

9 Fallow and Neglected Lands 282

Coda: 1876-1877 322.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-374) and index.

ISBN:

0471183679

OCLC:

41476867