Lincoln's peace The struggle to end the American Civil War

Historian Vorenberg (Final Freedom) reflects on when and where the Civil War really ended in this intricate account. Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865 is generally considered to be the war's end, but Vorenberg notes how fighting still waged in pockets around the country. (He singles out as the culprit behind the unrest an "unrepentant" Jefferson Davis--a "fantasist with a following" who nursed deluded visions of guerrilla grandeur.) After Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson issued two proclamations in August 1865 addressing amnesty and reconstruction, the purpose of which, Vorenberg argues, was to again "signal that the war was over." Other notable "endings" include June 19, 1865, or Juneteenth, the day slavery ended in Texas, the last state to still enforce it; and Feb. 1, 1871, when Georgia became the last seceded state to rejoin Congress. Signs of continuation, on the other hand, also abounded, most notably white Southerners' violent resistance to Black political participation, but also the continuation of the Indian Wars of the plains and southwest. Vorenberg ruminates intriguingly on whether the latter conflict, which was prosecuted by both the Union and the Confederacy during the war, was actually an integral part of the Civil War itself, and whether its continuation into the 1880s can be seen as the war's long tail. He also astutely interrogates the notion that modern America is uniquely mired in "forever wars," suggesting instead that today's political scientists are likely idealizing the past. Expert analysis and eloquent prose make this a must-read for U.S. history buffs. (Mar.)

A bold book challenges what we think we know about how and when the Civil War really ended. Anyone who has paid remote attention in a civics class knows that the amicable April 9, 1865, meeting between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee at Appomattox ended the American Civil War. Not so, argues distinguished Brown University historian Vorenberg, who refreshingly admits his own culpability in perpetuating the myth that Appomattox concluded the Civil War and examines in this fascinating book when exactly--or whether--the just peace that Abraham Lincoln desired came about. Vorenberg does not merely analyze Lincoln's attempts to forge and outline peace and examine the many candidates for the military and legal "last" battles of war that were fought well after Lincoln's assassination, deep into the disastrous presidency of Andrew Johnson and beyond. He reevaluates the concept of founding myths such as the fixed end of the Civil War emblematic in George P.A. Healy's paintingThe Peacemakers (1868), which is on the book's cover. "The painting shows storm clouds giving way to sunshine," Vorenberg writes. "Nothing in the painting suggests the reality of months of warring that followed the historic meeting." The author contends that casting a critical eye on such founding myths is an important aspect of rethinking the notion of American exceptionalism. Along this line, the book concludes with a thought-provoking comparison to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Vorenberg exhibits scholarship of the first order. The history is vividly written and thoroughly researched. His reasoned questioning, skepticism, and analysis of accepted tropes and conclusions about the Civil War will prove meaningful to those who study the philosophy and psychology of war, peace, and American culture and identity. A brilliant work and a vital contribution to the canon. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.