Why read Civil War by Other Means?

Book cover of Civil War by Other Means: America's Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy

Book description

The Civil War may have ended on the battlefield, but the fight for equality never did

In 1865, the Confederacy was comprehensively defeated, its economy shattered, its leaders in exile or in jail. Yet in the years that followed, Lincoln’s vision of a genuinely united country never took root. Apart…

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American history

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Civil War by Other Means as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mark G. Pomar

Author

Suri begins with an analysis of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol and effectively shows how the roots of that attack are deeply embedded in American history.

Drawing on archives and documents, he shows how many Confederate generals never accepted defeat in the Civil War and left for Mexico in 1865 with their enslaved people and soldiers. When they were pardoned by President Andrew Johnson, they returned to the former Confederate states and continued to enforce segregation. One of the Confederate generals even went on to found the University of Texas.

In Suri’s words, resistance to full integration…

From Mark's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Mark G. Pomar

Author

In Civil War by Other Means, Jeremi Suri begins with the January 6, 2021 insurrection and shows how the roots of that riot go back to Confederate resistance to a more equal America that began immediately after the cessation of active hostilities.

In a sense, for many Southerners the Civil War never ended. Some left the US for Mexico, along with their slaves. Others maintained apartheid policies through control of the ballot box. Suri weaves a compelling story, based on a thorough examination of archives, that every American should know.

From Mark's list on critical world events from a new angle.