As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of our
defining national drama, 1861 presents a gripping and original
account of how the Civil War began.
1861 is an epic of courage and heroism beyond the battlefields.
Early in that fateful year, a second American revolution unfolded,
inspiring a new generation to reject their parents’ faith in
compromise and appeasement, to do the unthinkable in the name of an
ideal. It set Abraham Lincoln on the path to greatness and millions
of slaves on the road to freedom.
The book introduces us to a heretofore little-known cast of Civil
War heroes—among them an acrobatic militia colonel, an explorer’s
wife, an idealistic band of German immigrants, a regiment of New
York City firemen, a community of Virginia slaves, and a young
college professor who would one day become president. Adam
Goodheart takes us from the corridors of the White House to the
slums of Manhattan, from the mouth of the Chesapeake to the deserts
of Nevada, from Boston Common to Alcatraz Island, vividly evoking
the Union at this moment of ultimate crisis and decision.