A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln

by Eric Foner, Olivia Mahoney

"A graceful, informed overview of the antebellum U.S., the Civil War years, and the conflict's great aftermath. Best of all are the portrayed exhibit pieces." ― Booklist This analysis of the American Civil War pieces together a complex sequence of events, at the centre of which was slavery and the issue of its expansion into America's western territories. The author examines the political controversy that severed the bonds of union, and depicts the leading political and military figures of the era, including William Lloyd Garrison, Nat Turner, Dred Scott, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. The text also describes the innovations of 19th century warfare and the superior resources that enabled the North to emerge victorious. The book is illustrated throughout with rare photographs from the collection of the Chicago Historical Society.

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, where he earned his B.A. and Ph.D. In his teaching and scholarship, Foner focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and nineteenth-century America. His Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877, won the Bancroft, Parkman, and Los Angeles Times Book prizes and remains the standard history of the period. His latest book published in 2010 is The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.

In 2006 Foner received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching at Columbia University. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Society of American Historians.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Textbook propaganda devoid of trustworthy historical analysis. Too many “fun facts” laced throughout that are verifiable myths. Overly heavy handed on political topics … I side with the North, but the South did have legitimate reasons for secession that were NOT slavery. Ignoring them is intellectually dishonest & paints the civil war to be something that it wasn’t.

Writing is decent enough & of course not everything is inaccurate, but I’d never recommend this to anyone.

Seems like the depth of research that one might expect to find in a 10th grade essay.

One redeeming factor… the book had a lot of great pictures.

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An example of a stupid claim: The only pain relief during civil war amputations was whiskey & a bullet between the teeth.

If you’ve graduated from second grade, you probably know that’s a BS urban legend passed down from grandpa.

…Almost every amputee was administered chloroform/ether before surgery, enough to put them out for a hasty 10 minute operation. Not saying that surgery was joyful & painless - but it was quite far from “taking a swig of whisky and biting a bullet”. There are probably zero documented cases of anything like that being done.

If surgeons ran low on anesthetic for some rare reason - they used localized morphine injections & opium concoctions to make the solider numb & mentally spaced out. But even that only took place a handful of times at enormous battles like Gettysburg.