Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War

Winner, Library of Virginia Literary Award for NonfictionWinner, Eugene Feit Award in Civil War Studies, New York Military Affairs SymposiumWinner of the Dan and Marilyn Laney Prize of the Austin Civil War Round TableFinalist, Jefferson Davis Award of the Museum of the ConfederacyBest Books of 2014, Civil War Monitor6 Civil War Books to Read Now, Diane Rehm Show, NPR Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House evokes a highly gratifying image in the popular mind -- it was, many believe, a moment that transcended politics, a moment of healing, a moment of patriotism untainted by ideology. But as Elizabeth Varon reveals in this vividly narrated history, this rosy image conceals a seething debate over precisely what the surrender meant and what kind of nation would emerge from war. The combatants in that debate included the iconic Lee and Grant, but they also included a cast of characters previously overlooked, who brought their own understanding ofthe war's causes, consequences, a