Edward A. Wild and the African Brigade in the Civil War Book

Campbell truly makes the last days of the Civil War come alive in this book, giving a nuanced picture of the ordinary and flawed people involved in Sherman's campaign. She draws on letters and memoirs from the period to build a vivid picture of the interactions between Union soldiers, white Confederate women, and southern African Americans. She dispels the idea of women passively waiting at home, including detailed examples of how southern women saw themselves as crucial actors in the survival of the Confederacy (and how their experiences led to resentment that extended well past the end of the war). The ambivalence of ordinary soldiers participating in the campaign, especially as they came to terms with psychological warfare, is also well-described. While Campbell could have given more space to African American voices from this period, she fully acknowledges the ugly reality of their treatment during this campaign, and the consequences for them in the postwar years.

Even though this book focuses on a specific story from the Civil War, I definitely think the takeaways on ideological clashes, class conflict, and historical memory/revisionism are applicable to modern American readers. Even when dealing with thorny issues of gender and racial politics, it remains really readable. If only more history books were written like this!