April 1865: The Month That Saved America
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It was a month that could have unraveled the nation. Instead, it saved it. In April 1865, Jay Winik masterfully breathes new life into the end of a war and the events we only thought we knew. This gripping, panoramic narrative takes readers on a breathless ride through these tumultuous 30 days, showing that the nation's future rested on a few crucial decisions and twists of fate. Here is Richmond's dramatic fall, Lee's harrowing retreat, and the intense debate in Confederate circles over unleashing guerilla warfare. Here, too, is the rebel surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln's assassination five days later, and the ensuing fears of chaos and a coup, the shaky transfer of presidential power, and, finally, the start of national reconciliation. Outsized characters stalk through sweeping events in Winik's brilliant narrative, transforming a seeming epilogue to a great war into a central—and saving—moment in American history, firmly placing April 1865 in the same pantheon as 1492 and 176.About the Author:Jay Winik has had a distinguished government career and is now a senior scholar at the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs. His first boo, On the Brink: The Dramatic, Behind-the-Scenes Saga of the Regan Era and the Men and Women Who Won the Cold War, won wide critical acclaim. He lives in Chevy Chase, MD. Weekly Standard - Terry Eastland Winik's command of the war makes the book compelling: an engrossing narrative history, a valuable refresher on how the war ended.
List of MapsIXIntroductionXIPrelude: "A Nation Delayed"3Part 1March 18651.The Dilemma29Part 2April 1, 18652.The Fall733.The Chase--and the Decision1234.The Meeting173Part 3April 15, 18655.The Unraveling2036.Will It All Come Undone?2597.Surrender301Part 4Late Spring, 18658.Reconciliation351Epilogue: To Make a Nation365Notes389Acknowledgments449Index453
