Thanks to all of you who attended last night’s book club. We had about 30 people show up to talk about Heather Cox Richardson’s book, *How the South Won the Civil War. *Just as I anticipated, it was a spirited and engaging discussion. I was hoping to post a recording of our discussion, but unfortunately I ran into some technical issues.
Toward the end of the meeting we briefly touched on what we might read for our next meeting. It was suggested that we read something about Reconstruction, which I think is a fantastic idea.
With that in mind, I want to solicit your thoughts about a short list of possible books. My criteria was pretty straightforward. The book has to be well researched, accessible to a wide audience that may have little understanding of Reconstruction, and it has to be of a reasonable length, though two of the titles are admittedly long.
Here is my list:
Fergus Bordewich,
Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction.Eric Foner,
The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Reconstruction.Kate Masur & Liz Clarke,
.Freedom Was in Sight!: A Graphic History of Reconstruction in the Washington, D.C. RegionManisha Sinha,
The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920.Kidada E. Williams,
I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War against Reconstruction.
Let me know what you think in the comments section below. Of course, please feel free to suggest additional titles. I am hoping to schedule our next meeting in early October.
