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

How Adam Ehrlich Sachs Writes Absurd and Beautiful Fiction

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

Why Men Have Worn the Same Black Suits for 200 Years

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

Two Scientists Bring the Laboratory to the Stage

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

Most popular

Trump Administration Will Investigate Alleged Visa Fraud at Harvard

The announcement comes two days after a federal appeals court heard arguments about an international students ban.

Harvard Alumni Win Two 2026 Nobel Prizes

Karl Deisseroth revolutionized neuroscience. Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has adjudicated cases in international courts concerning genocide.

A Play for the Ages Propels Crimson Football to Victory

Dick Friedman on Harvard’s 20-17 win over Colgate

Explore More From Current Issue

Three actors perform on stage, with one actor interacting closely with another, set against abstract backgrounds.

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

Two laboratory researchers, one seated and one standing, in a scientific lab with equipment.

The stakes are high for this husband and wife: one of them will die if they don’t find a cure.

A glowing bulb shape surrounded by colorful, swirling energy lines against a blue background.

Harvard researchers achieve medical breakthroughs in cancer therapy and infection control.