More on Adam Goodheart's new book "1861: The Civil War Awakening"

Adam Goodheart's new book explores the Civil War.

A new book, 1861: The Civil War Awakening,  by Adam Goodheart ’92, recently reviewed in Harvard Magazine, was also the subject of  a searching, favorable review in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Goodheart's volume, years in the making, explores the origins and beginnings of the war, whose sesquicentennial begins this year and will continue until 2015. "Many good studies about the struggle will be published, but few will be as exhilarating as 1861: The Civil War Awakening,” writes Debby Applegate in the Times. "Like many of the best works of history, 1861 creates the uncanny illusion that the reader has stepped into a time machine." Goodheart, director of the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College, is a former Undergraduate columnist for Harvard Magazine and was one of its original Ledecky Fellows.   

You might also like

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

Chloe Chapin trains her Broadway costume designer’s eye on the history of men’s fashion.

The play Spare Parts is a contemporary fable about the quest to live forever.

Most popular

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Explore More From Current Issue

A smiling elderly man in glasses sits comfortably in a striped armchair.

Plus, veteran higher education leader Thomas Ehrlich reflects on university curricula for his 70th reunion

Three hands hold smartphones displaying social media profiles with likes and hearts.

Tell us about how social media impacts your daily life.

Colorful word cloud with various emotions and ideas related to learning and reflection.

But it can’t replace human connection.