Read by Norman Dietz

The period following the Civil War was one of the most controversial eras in American history. This comprehensive account of the period captures the drama of those turbulent years that played such an important role in shaping modern America. Eric Foner brilliantly chronicles how Americans, black and white, responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the Civil War and the end of slavery. He provides fresh insights on a host of other issues, including,The ways in which the emancipated slave's quest for economic autonomy and equal citizenship shaped the political agenda of Reconstruction;The remodeling of Southern society and the place of planters, merchants, and small farmers within it;The evolution of racial attitudes and patterns of race relations;Abraham Lincoln's attitude toward Reconstruction;The role of "carpet-baggers" and "scalawags;" andThe role of violence in the period. This "smart book of enormous strengths" (Boston Globe) has become the classic work on the wrenching post-Civil War period, an era whose legacy reverberates in the United States to this day. "[A] splendid book…a compelling narrative…With this book, Mr. Foner becomes the preeminent historian of Reconstruction." "Eric Foner…has written the Reconstruction book for our times. Monumental in scope, ranging over the North as well as the South…a feat of research and synthesis." "Long, brilliant, and stylish…[Reconstruction] is of signal importance…the most comprehensive and convincing account of the effort to build a racially democratic and just society from the fiery ruins of slavery." "A heroic synthesis that should dominate the field…It gives nearly equal time to all the protagonists in the Reconstruction drama and recognizes how inextricably economic, political, social, and ideological issues are bound." "This is history written on a grand scale, a masterful treatment of one of the most complex periods of American history." "Reconstruction will certainly be the standard work on the subject for the foreseeable future. And with its publication, Eric Foner has emerged as the preeminent American historian of his generation." "This invaluable, definitive history re-creates the post-Civil War period as a pivotal drama in which ordinary people get equal billing with politicians and wheelers and dealers."

Mode of access: World Wide Web