An immense literature about the Civil War has nonetheless paid surprisingly little attention to the common soldier, North and South. Historians have shown even less concern for the long-term impact of this military service on American society. Larry M. Logue's To Appomattox and Beyond makes a major contribution in addressing this need. In a compact synthesis that draws upon important new materials from his own research, Logue provides the fullest account available of the Civil War soldier in war and peace—who fought, what happened to them in battle, how the public regarded them, how the war changed the rest of their lives, in what ways they were like and different from their counterparts across the Mason-Dixon line. To Appomattox and Beyond offers surprising conclusions about the psychological impact of warfare on its participants; about the North's generous pension system for veterans; and about the role that veterans played in politics and social issues, notably the Confederate racist reaction of the late nineteenth century. In a final irony, Logue points out, by the twentieth century men who had once been enemies now had more in common with each other than with the new world around them.

A spirited synthesis of the burgeoning historiography of the U.S. Civil War soldier. * The Historian *
Logue has forced us to think about the Civil War in terms that transcend the war itself. He has produced a readable, edifying volume . . . for that he should be commended. -- Jason H. Silverman * Journal of Southern History *
An orderly, useful account of up-to-date scholarship . . . easily digestible. -- Jonathan Yardley * The Washington Post *

Larry M. Logue teaches American history at Mississippi College and is the author of A Sermon in the Desert, winner of the Chipman Prize.