Burlington Public Library

"Born a free man in New York State in 1808, Solomon Northup was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., in 1841. He spent the next twelve harrowing years of his life as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. During this time he was frequently abused and often afraid for his life. After regaining his freedom in 1853, Northup decided to publish this gripping autobiographical account of his captivity. As an educated man, Northup was able to present an exceptionally...

"From the National Book Award-winning and best-selling author Timothy Egan comes the epic story of one of the most fascinating and colorful Irishman in nineteenth-century America. The Irish-American story, with all its twists and triumphs, is told through the improbable life of one man. A dashing young orator during the Great Famine of the 1840s, in which a million of his Irish countrymen died, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against...

"Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Ron Chernow shows in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency."--Book jacket....

"In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North....

There is renewed interest among Civil War historians and history buffs alike about events west of the Appalachian Mountains and their impact on the outcome of the conflict. In examining the Chickamauga campaign, this book provides a fresh analysis of the foremost Confederate victory in the Western theater. The study opens with a discussion of two commanders, William S. Rosecrans and Braxton Bragg, and the forces swirling around them when they clashed...

Historians have often marginalized the effect of African American troops on the outcome of the Civil War. While many histories briefly mention the service of the blacks, few reveal their impact. Lorenzo Thomas was one of the most exceptional people to serve in that war, but no biography of his life has been written. Most of his career was spent as an administrator in the U. S. Army, from his graduation from West Point in 1823 until the start of the...

“In all the vast collection of books on the American Civil War there is no book like this one,” says Bruce Catton. Never before has such a stunning body of facts dealing with the war been gathered together in one place and presented in a coherent, useful, day-by-day narrative. And never before have statistics revealed human suffering of such heroic and tragic magnitude. The text begins in November, 1860, and ends with the conclusion of hostilities...

"Roberts marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War by offering a ... look at Washington, D.C., and the experiences, influence, and contributions of its women during this momentous period of American history"--Amazon.com.

Eager to enlist, fifteen-year-old Charley has a change of heart after experiencing both the physical horrors and mental anguish of Civil War combat.

Examine key battles in the Civil War and learn about some of the heroic leaders and soldiers. Also, learn how the war impacted civilians.