Lincoln's Peace : The Struggle to End the American Civil War by Michael Vorenberg (2025, Hardcover)
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- Buy It NowLincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War by Vorenberg, Micha
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group
ISBN-101524733172
ISBN-139781524733179
eBay Product ID (ePID)23068564238
Product Key Features
Book TitleLincoln's Peace : the Struggle to End the American Civil War
Number of Pages480 Pages
LanguageEnglish
TopicUnited States / 19th Century, United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877), Military / United States, United States / General
Publication Year2025
IllustratorYes
GenreHistory
AuthorMichael Vorenberg
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height1.8 in
Item Weight26 Oz
Item Length9.6 in
Item Width6.5 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2024-020185
Reviews"In this powerful and provocative book, Michael Vorenberg vividly dramatizes how America was 'caught between a state of war and a state of peace' after Appomattox. With careful attention to legal and political debates, and to the themes of insurgency, occupation, conquest, and freedom, Vorenberg traces the prolonged national struggle to end the Civil War--and asks us to contemplate why our myths of a definitive peace persist." --Elizabeth R. Varon, University of Virginia, author of Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South, "Original, absorbing, and illuminating, Michael Vorenberg''s Lincoln''s Peace does something remarkable: It makes us think about familiar questions in an entirely new and engaging way. A marvelous achievement." --Jon Meacham, author of And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle "Everyone knows the Civil War ended with Robert E. Lee''s surrender at Appomattox. But as Michael Vorenberg shows in this fascinating and original narrative, the situation was actually much more complicated, and a full account of the war''s end has all sorts of ramifications, legal, military, and racial. Vorenberg''s account helps us understand what the war was all about and whether in some ways it is still being fought." --Eric Foner, author of The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution "In this powerful and provocative book, Michael Vorenberg vividly dramatizes how America was ''caught between a state of war and a state of peace'' after Appomattox. With careful attention to legal and political debates, and to the themes of insurgency, occupation, conquest, and freedom, Vorenberg traces the prolonged national struggle to end the Civil War--and asks us to contemplate why our myths of a definitive peace persist." --Elizabeth R. Varon, University of Virginia, author of Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South "In a bracing challenge to the received wisdom that America''s Civil War ended with Lee''s surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln''s Peace sheds a brilliant light on the liminal space between what was no longer outright war nor yet a realized peace. Vorenberg''s sparkling narrative tells of ongoing conflict, violence, legal disputation, international imbroglios, and--above all--contested freedom. In sum, a masterly and original work." --Richard Carwardine, author of Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln''s Union "A provocative and disquieting counter-narrative to the long-held and widespread assumption that the Civil War ended with the Appomattox Surrender. Rather, the author argues, the often-bloody aftermath known as ''Reconstruction'' was a continuation of violent conflict, and thus war, albeit of a different kind. It was waged not only in states of the former Confederacy but also across the West. Drawing on an impressive range of sources and interweaving military, racial, legal, and political dynamics, Vorenberg''s arresting narrative will provide readers with much food for thought." --Joan Waugh, author of U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth "Vorenberg leads us on an often surprising journey through the twilight time between Lee''s surrender at Appomattox Court House and the elusive end of hostilities between North and South, long after the Civil War was traditionally thought to have ended. In this fast-unfolding account, he presents the nation''s leaders in compelling close focus as they struggle to find their way through a labyrinth of political, legal, and military ambiguities, while hopes for a clear-cut peace evaporate and the shape of a new postwar America comes painfully into being." --Fergus M. Bordewich, author of Klan War " Lincoln''s Peace is the finest account of how the Civil War ended--yet didn''t really end--that I have ever read. In a compelling, wide-ranging, fast-flowing, narrative Michael Vorenberg first takes the reader to the supposedly final battles, negotiations, surrenders and skirmishes that ought to have concluded the most violent war of insurrection in American history; he then describes the sad mess that followed--assassination, pardons, dropped treason trials, escapes from justice and disputed versions of guilt and responsibility that make the work a must-read for all of us today." --Nigel Hamilton, author of Lincoln vs Davis: The War of the Presidents, "In this powerful and provocative book, Michael Vorenberg vividly dramatizes how America was 'caught between a state of war and a state of peace' after Appomattox. With careful attention to legal and political debates, and to the themes of insurgency, occupation, conquest, and freedom, Vorenberg traces the prolonged national struggle to end the Civil War--and asks us to contemplate why our myths of a definitive peace persist." --Elizabeth R. Varon, University of Virginia, author of Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South "In a bracing challenge to the received wisdom that America's Civil War ended with Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln's Peace sheds a brilliant light on the liminal space between what was no longer outright war nor yet a realized peace. Vorenberg's sparkling narrative tells of ongoing conflict, violence, legal disputation, international imbroglios, and--above all--contested freedom. In sum, a masterly and original work." --Richard Carwardine, author of Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union "A provocative and disquieting counter-narrative to the long-held and widespread assumption that the Civil War ended with the Appomattox Surrender. Rather, the author argues, the often-bloody aftermath known as 'Reconstruction' was a continuation of violent conflict, and thus war, albeit of a different kind. It was waged not only in states of the former Confederacy but also across the West. Drawing on an impressive range of sources and interweaving military, racial, legal, and political dynamics, Vorenberg's arresting narrative will provide readers with much food for thought." --Joan Waugh, author of U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth "Vorenberg leads us on an often surprising journey through the twilight time between Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House and the elusive end of hostilities between North and South, long after the Civil War was traditionally thought to have ended. In this fast-unfolding account, he presents the nation's leaders in compelling close focus as they struggle to find their way through a labyrinth of political, legal, and military ambiguities, while hopes for a clear-cut peace evaporate and the shape of a new postwar America comes painfully into being." --Fergus M. Bordewich, author of Klan War " Lincoln's Peace is the finest account of how the Civil War ended--yet didn't really end--that I have ever read. In a compelling, wide-ranging, fast-flowing, narrative Michael Vorenberg first takes the reader to the supposedly final battles, negotiations, surrenders and skirmishes that ought to have concluded the most violent war of insurrection in American history; he then describes the sad mess that followed--assassination, pardons, dropped treason trials, escapes from justice and disputed versions of guilt and responsibility that make the work a must-read for all of us today." --Nigel Hamilton, author of Lincoln vs Davis: The War of the Presidents, "Everyone knows the Civil War ended with Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. But as Michael Vorenberg shows in this fascinating and original narrative, the situation was actually much more complicated, and a full account of the war's end has all sorts of ramifications, legal, military, and racial. Vorenberg's account helps us understand what the war was all about and whether in some ways it is still being fought." --Eric Foner, author of The Second Founding "In this powerful and provocative book, Michael Vorenberg vividly dramatizes how America was 'caught between a state of war and a state of peace' after Appomattox. With careful attention to legal and political debates, and to the themes of insurgency, occupation, conquest, and freedom, Vorenberg traces the prolonged national struggle to end the Civil War--and asks us to contemplate why our myths of a definitive peace persist." --Elizabeth R. Varon, University of Virginia, author of Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South "In a bracing challenge to the received wisdom that America's Civil War ended with Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln's Peace sheds a brilliant light on the liminal space between what was no longer outright war nor yet a realized peace. Vorenberg's sparkling narrative tells of ongoing conflict, violence, legal disputation, international imbroglios, and--above all--contested freedom. In sum, a masterly and original work." --Richard Carwardine, author of Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union "A provocative and disquieting counter-narrative to the long-held and widespread assumption that the Civil War ended with the Appomattox Surrender. Rather, the author argues, the often-bloody aftermath known as 'Reconstruction' was a continuation of violent conflict, and thus war, albeit of a different kind. It was waged not only in states of the former Confederacy but also across the West. Drawing on an impressive range of sources and interweaving military, racial, legal, and political dynamics, Vorenberg's arresting narrative will provide readers with much food for thought." --Joan Waugh, author of U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth "Vorenberg leads us on an often surprising journey through the twilight time between Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House and the elusive end of hostilities between North and South, long after the Civil War was traditionally thought to have ended. In this fast-unfolding account, he presents the nation's leaders in compelling close focus as they struggle to find their way through a labyrinth of political, legal, and military ambiguities, while hopes for a clear-cut peace evaporate and the shape of a new postwar America comes painfully into being." --Fergus M. Bordewich, author of Klan War " Lincoln's Peace is the finest account of how the Civil War ended--yet didn't really end--that I have ever read. In a compelling, wide-ranging, fast-flowing, narrative Michael Vorenberg first takes the reader to the supposedly final battles, negotiations, surrenders and skirmishes that ought to have concluded the most violent war of insurrection in American history; he then describes the sad mess that followed--assassination, pardons, dropped treason trials, escapes from justice and disputed versions of guilt and responsibility that make the work a must-read for all of us today." --Nigel Hamilton, author of Lincoln vs Davis: The War of the Presidents, "In this powerful and provocative book, Michael Vorenberg vividly dramatizes how America was 'caught between a state of war and a state of peace' after Appomattox. With careful attention to legal and political debates, and to the themes of insurgency, occupation, conquest, and freedom, Vorenberg traces the prolonged national struggle to end the Civil War--and asks us to contemplate why our myths of a definitive peace persist." --Elizabeth R. Varon, University of Virginia, author of Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South "In a bracing challenge to the received wisdom that America's Civil War ended with Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln's Peace sheds a brilliant light on the liminal space between what was no longer outright war nor yet a realized peace. Vorenberg's sparkling narrative tells of ongoing conflict, violence, legal disputation, international imbroglios, and--above all--contested freedom. In sum, a masterly and original work." --Richard Carwardine, author of Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union "A provocative and disquieting counter-narrative to the long-held and widespread assumption that the Civil War ended with the Appomattox Surrender. Rather, the author argues, the often-bloody aftermath known as 'Reconstruction' was a continuation of violent conflict, and thus war, albeit of a different kind. It was waged not only in states of the former Confederacy but also across the West. Drawing on an impressive range of sources and interweaving military, racial, legal, and political dynamics, Vorenberg's arresting narrative will provide readers with much food for thought." --Joan Waugh, author of U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth, "In this powerful and provocative book, Michael Vorenberg vividly dramatizes how America was 'caught between a state of war and a state of peace' after Appomattox. With careful attention to legal and political debates, and to the themes of insurgency, occupation, conquest, and freedom, Vorenberg traces the prolonged national struggle to end the Civil War--and asks us to contemplate why our myths of a definitive peace persist." --Elizabeth R. Varon, University of Virginia, author of Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South "In a bracing challenge to the received wisdom that America's Civil War ended with Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln's Peace sheds a brilliant light on the liminal space between what was no longer outright war nor yet a realized peace. Vorenberg's sparkling narrative tells of ongoing conflict, violence, legal disputation, international imbroglios, and--above all--contested freedom. In sum, a masterly and original work." --Richard Carwardine, author of Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union "A provocative and disquieting counter-narrative to the long-held and widespread assumption that the Civil War ended with the Appomattox Surrender. Rather, the author argues, the often-bloody aftermath known as 'Reconstruction' was a continuation of violent conflict, and thus war, albeit of a different kind. It was waged not only in states of the former Confederacy but also across the West. Drawing on an impressive range of sources and interweaving military, racial, legal, and political dynamics, Vorenberg's arresting narrative will provide readers with much food for thought." --Joan Waugh, author of U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth "Vorenberg leads us on an often surprising journey through the twilight time between Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House and the elusive end of hostilities between North and South, long after the Civil War was traditionally thought to have ended. In this fast-unfolding account, he presents the nation's leaders in compelling close focus as they struggle to find their way through a labyrinth of political, legal, and military ambiguities, while hopes for a clear-cut peace evaporate and the shape of a new postwar America comes painfully into being." --Fergus M. Bordewich, author of Klan War
SynopsisOne historian's journey to find the end of the Civil War-and, along the way, to expand our understanding of the nature of war itself and how societies struggle to draw the line between war and peace LOS ANGELES TIMES "TOP TEN BOOKS TO READ IN 2025" "Eye-opening, disturbing, moving and at times jaw-dropping . . . Once in a great while a book arrives that allows us to rediscover the strange inexhaustibility of the Civil War. Lincoln's Peace is such a book." -Tony Kushner " Lincoln's Peace does something remarkable- It makes us think about familiar questions in an entirely new and engaging way. A marvelous achievement." -Jon Meacham "Helps us understand what the war was all about and whether in some ways it is still being fought." -Eric Foner We set out on the James River, March 25, 1865, aboard the paddle steamboat River Queen. President Lincoln is on his way to General Grant's headquarters at City Point, Virginia, and he's decided he won't return to Washington until he's witnessed, or perhaps even orchestrated, the end of the Civil War. Now, it turns out, more than a century and a half later, historians are still searching for that end. Was it April 9, at Appomattox, as conventional wisdom holds, where Lee surrendered to Grant in Wilmer McLean's parlor? Or was it ten weeks afterward, in Galveston, where a federal commander proclaimed Juneteenth the end of slavery? Or perhaps in August of 1866, when President Andrew Johnson simply declared "the insurrection is at an end"? That the answer was elusive was baffling even to a historian of the stature of Michael Vorenberg, whose work served as a key source of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln . Vorenberg was inspired to write this groundbreaking book, finding its title in the peace Lincoln hoped for but could not make before his assassination. A peace that required not one but many endings, as Vorenberg reveals in these pages, the most important of which came well more than a year after Lincoln's untimely death. To say how a war ends is to suggest how it should be remembered, and Vorenberg's search is not just for the Civil War's endpoint but for its true nature and legacy, so essential to the American identity. It's also a quest, in our age of "forever wars," to understand whether the United States's interminable conflicts of the current era have a precedent in the Civil War-and whether, in a sense, wars ever end at all, or merely wax and wane., One historian's journey to find the end of the Civil War--and, along the way, to expand our understanding of the nature of war itself and how societies struggle to draw the line between war and peace LOS ANGELES TIMES "TOP TEN BOOKS TO READ IN 2025" "Eye-opening, disturbing, moving and at times jaw-dropping . . . Once in a great while a book arrives that allows us to rediscover the strange inexhaustibility of the Civil War. Lincoln's Peace is such a book." --Tony Kushner " Lincoln's Peace does something remarkable: It makes us think about familiar questions in an entirely new and engaging way. A marvelous achievement." --Jon Meacham "Helps us understand what the war was all about and whether in some ways it is still being fought." --Eric Foner We set out on the James River, March 25, 1865, aboard the paddle steamboat River Queen. President Lincoln is on his way to General Grant's headquarters at City Point, Virginia, and he's decided he won't return to Washington until he's witnessed, or perhaps even orchestrated, the end of the Civil War. Now, it turns out, more than a century and a half later, historians are still searching for that end. Was it April 9, at Appomattox, as conventional wisdom holds, where Lee surrendered to Grant in Wilmer McLean's parlor? Or was it ten weeks afterward, in Galveston, where a federal commander proclaimed Juneteenth the end of slavery? Or perhaps in August of 1866, when President Andrew Johnson simply declared "the insurrection is at an end"? That the answer was elusive was baffling even to a historian of the stature of Michael Vorenberg, whose work served as a key source of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln . Vorenberg was inspired to write this groundbreaking book, finding its title in the peace Lincoln hoped for but could not make before his assassination. A peace that required not one but many endings, as Vorenberg reveals in these pages, the most important of which came well more than a year after Lincoln's untimely death. To say how a war ends is to suggest how it should be remembered, and Vorenberg's search is not just for the Civil War's endpoint but for its true nature and legacy, so essential to the American identity. It's also a quest, in our age of "forever wars," to understand whether the United States's interminable conflicts of the current era have a precedent in the Civil War--and whether, in a sense, wars ever end at all, or merely wax and wane.
LC Classification NumberE459.V67 2025
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Most relevant reviews
- Aug 30, 2025
Lincoln's Peace- end of Civil War
Still reading the book, but it's very a interesting period and I do recommend it.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
