Slotkin Richard

In the summer of 1862, after a year of protracted fighting, Abraham Lincoln decided on a radical change of strategy, one that abandoned hope for a compromise peace and committed the nation to all-out war. The centerpiece of that new strategy was the Emancipation Proclamation: an unprecedented use of federal power that would revolutionize Southern society.

National Book Award Finalist: The "impressive" conclusion to the "magisterial trilogy on the mythology of violence in American history" (Film Quarterly). "The myth of the Western frontier-which assumes that whites' conquest of Native Americans and the taming of the wilderness were preordained means to a progressive, civilized society-is embedded in our national psyche. U.S. troops called Vietnam 'Indian country.' President John Kennedy invoked 'New...

"The culture wars are pitting us against each other with a vitriol that is fueling outright violence. Slotkin looks to the foundational myths that have shaped American identity-the Frontier, the Founding, the Civil War (Emancipation and Lost Cause), and Good War-and reveals how and why they are bringing the United States to the brink of an existential crisis."--