Nonfiction Monday is hosted today by Supratentorial.

For Nonfiction Monday --  "The Civil War: profiles, one event six people" by Aaron Rosenberg.

 

Rosenberg collects short biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Clara Barton, George McClellan, Robert E. Lee, and Matthew Brady, six people  who influenced and were influenced by the Civil War.  Then Rosenberg takes the reader one step farther by relating how each of these six individuals were interconnected which takes this book into territory not found in more familiar biographies.

Rosenberg establishes the premise for his work in the introduction -- a portion of which is quoted here: "Robert E. Lee is famous as the Confederate general.  But did you know that he was originally supposed to command the Union Army?  Who was Frederick Douglass, and why did Lincoln listen to him so closely?  How did Clara Barton influence men and women on both sides of the war.  Why is George McClellan important if he was actually dismissed from his military position?  Who was Mathew Brady and why did Lincoln sometimes say he owed his entire presidency to him?"

Rosenberg answers these questions and many others in a 150+ pages that include archival photographs, a map, a detailed list of books, articles and websites for further reading or research, and an index.