George Templeton Strong (1820-1875) was perhaps the most accurate civilian observer of the experience of the civil war in the north. His memoirs, oscillating between despair and euphoria and punctuated by crises and explosive events, unfold like a fascinating historical novel.
Strong was particularly attuned to the changing moods of the North, and to what he called “the great mass of selfishness, insignificance, invincibility, and indifference to national life” that hampered the Union's war effort.His eyewitness accounts-whether of the 1863 conscription riots, overcrowded field hospitals, or his encounters with leaders such as Grant and Lincoln-are notable for their remarkable clarity and narrative detail.Strong's reflections on the war and the political situation are valuable because they often reflect the “pulse of public opinion” in the north, as historian James M. Macpherson, they also reveal the unique intelligence of an exceptional writer whose views - especially toward President Lincoln - evolved over the course of the war.
Carefully and meticulously selected from the Library of America, this is an entirely new version of Strong's text, replacing the only previous edition published in 1952 that had long been out of print.
