David R. Goldfield

The author of this groundbreaking new interpretation will talk about New York City during the Civil War--the 1863 draft riot, the economic boom, the impact of Irish immigration on Union sentiment in the city, and the response to emancipation.

As part of our observance of the Civil War sesquicentennial, we are pleased to present one of America’s finest historians, Dr. David Goldfield, with his eagerly anticipated and highly original new book, ”America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation.” The date of his appearance here is significant: ... (more)the anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, an event which ignited the war. Goldfield’s book offers the first major new interpretation of the Civil War era since James McPherson’s celebrated ”Battle Cry of Freedom.” Where many scholars have hailed the war as a triumph of freedom, Goldfield sees it as America’s greatest failure, the result of a breakdown caused by the infusion of evangelical religion into public life. We know you’ll find this book provocative and its conclusions well researched. Goldfield is Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and the author of many books on Southern history including ”Still Fighting the Civil War.” We will have copies of his new book for sale and signing.