As the American Civil War recedes into the past, popular fascination continues to rise. Once a matter that chiefly concerned veterans, separately organized North and South, who gathered to refight old battles and to memorialize the heroes and victims of war, the Civil War has gradually become part of a collective heritage. Issues raised by the war, including its causes and consequences, reverberate through contemporary society. Family and community connections with the war exist everywhere, as do battlefields, memorials, and other physical reminders of the conflict. We, as Americans, are fascinated by the sheer magnitude of the war fought over thousands of miles of American soil and resulting in awesome casualties. It was a gigantic national drama enacted by people who seem both contemporary and remote. Here for the first time, leading Civil War scholars gather to sort out the fact and fiction of our collective memories. Contributors include Pulitzer Prize-winner Mark E. Neely, Jr., Alan T. Nolan, John Y. Simon, James I. 'Bud' Robertson, Jr., Gary W. Gallagher, Joseph T. Glatthaar, and Ervin L. Jordan, Jr.

In this powerful and moving memoir, Robert Beecham tells of his Civil War experiences, both as an enlisted man in the fabled Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac and as an officer commanding a newly raised African-American unit. Written in 1902, Beecham recounts his war experiences with a keen eye toward the daily life of the soldier, the suffering and brutality of war, and the remarkable acts of valor, by soldiers both black and white, that punctuated the grind of long campaigns. As If It Were Glory is an unforgettable account of the Civil War, unclouded by sentimentality and insistent that the nation remain true to the cause for which it fought. Beecham's war was a long one-he served from May 1861 through the completion of the war in the spring of 1865. With the Iron Brigade he saw action at such momentous battles as Chancellorsville and then at Gettysburg, where he was taken prisoner. Returned to service in a prison exchange, Beecham was promoted to first lieutenant of the 23rd United States Colored Troops whom he lead in fierce fighting at the Battle of the Crater. At the Crater, Beecham was wounded, again captured, and, after eight months in a Confederate prison, escaped to find his way to Annapolis just before the conclusion of the war. In his narrative, Beecham celebrates the ingenuity of the enlisted man at the expense of officers who are often arrogant or incompetent. He also chides the altered recollections of fellow veterans who remember only triumphs and forgot defeats. In one of the most powerful parts of his memoir, Beecham pays tribute to the valor of the African Americans who fought under his command and insists that they were "the bravest and best soldiers that ever lived."

Each November, hundreds of Lincoln and Civil War enthusiasts mark the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address by gathering together in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for the annual Lincoln Forum -- an acclaimed scholarly symposium featuring groundbreaking presentations by the nation's leading historians. The scholars and attendees alike make the pilgrimage for one reason: to re-interpret, re-examine, and re-discover the most intriguing, endlessly fascinating, figure of the American past, Abraham Lincoln.

Now the best of the most recent Lincoln Forum lectures -- some of which have been broadcast on C-SPAN'S "Book TV" network -- have been collected in one volume for the enjoyment and enlightenment of readers everywhere. The essays offer important re-examinations of Lincoln as military leader, communicator, family man, and icon. The scholarship is new, the voices are sure, and the results are likely to both break new ground and provoke new debate.

James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom, contributes a timely essay on Lincoln's record as commander-in-chief. Craig L. Symonds, the distinguished naval historian, analyzes Lincoln and the technological revolution that transformed his Civil War navy. John F. Marszalek, acclaimed biographer of William T. Sherman, examines Lincoln's important relationship with that controversial but productive military hero. And Jean H. Baker, the leading authority on Mary Todd Lincoln, offers a definitive assessment of the frequently mis-portrayed Lincoln marriage, and a new analysis of the much-maligned First Lady.

In another important chapter, historian Hans L. Trefousse finds compelling new evidence of Lincoln's surprisingpopularity while he lived; military expert J. Tracy Power looks at the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia in the wake of the watershed presidential election of 1864, which returned Lincoln to power; award-winning author and historian John C.Waugh pens an appreciation of Lincoln's unique talents as writer and communicator; Gerald Prokopowicz, historian of the Lincoln Museum, takes a new look at Lincoln's high expectations for the Army of the Potomac after Gettysburg; and Frank J.Williams, chairman of the Lincoln Forum, explores the often under-appreciated influence of the women in Lincoln's life.

Each year, hundreds of scholars and other enthusiasts mark the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address by gathering together in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for the Lincoln Forum. There, leading historians reinterpret and rediscover the legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Now the best recent Lincoln Forum essays are available in one volume, offering important reexaminations of Lincoln as military leader, communicator, family man, and icon.

The contributors include James M. McPherson, Craig L. Symonds, John F. Marszalek, Jean H. Baker, Hans L. Trefousse, J. Tracy Power, John C. Waugh, Gerald Prokopowicz, and Frank J. Williams.

In "Lincoln's Generals," Gabor S. Boritt and a team of distinguished historians examine the interaction between Abraham Lincoln and his five key Civil War generals: McClellan, Hooker, Meade, Sherman, and Grant, providing fresh insight into this mixed bag of officers and the president's tireless efforts to work with them. The president's relationship with his generals was never easy. Stephen W. Sears underscores McClellan's perverse obstinacy as Lincoln tried to drive him ahead. Pulitzer Prize-winner Mark E. Neely Jr. sheds new light on the president's relationship with Hooker, arguing that he was wrong to push the general to attack at Chancellorsville. Boritt writes about Lincoln's prickly relationship with the victor of Gettysburg, "old snapping turtle" George Meade. Michael Fellman reveals the political stress between the White House and Sherman, a staunch conservative who did not want blacks in his army but who was crucial to the war effort. And John Y. Simon looks past the legendary camaraderie between Lincoln and Grant to reveal the tensions in their relationship. These authors take us inside the personalities and relationships that shaped the course of the nation's most costly war.

During the winter of 1864-65, the end of the Civil War neared as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant maintained pressure against the dying Confederacy. Major General William T. Sherman ripped through Georgia and presented Savannah to President Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas gift. Grant continued the long siege at Petersburg, pinning down General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He held Lee in place while his armies demolished the Confederacy elsewhere. Grant knew that the Confederacy could not long survive. He must have seen it in the faces of the Confederate peace commissioners who appeared at City Point at the end of January, although their meeting with Lincoln at Hampton Roads was unproductive. Grant prepared to strike the final blow.

When the Civil War erupted in April 1861, many German immigrants in Illinois rushed to enlist in the Union Army. Volunteers from Illinois towns in St. Clair County - Belleville, Millstadt, Mascoutah, Lebanon, and others - marched to Springfield under the command of August Mersy, a veteran of the failed 1848 revolt in Baden, Germany. When these German immigrants reached Springfield, however, Mersy was rejected as commander because of his limited facility with English. Replaced by Colonel Eleazer A. Paine, an Ohioan and West Point graduate, Lieutenant Colonel Mersy fell to second in command of the Ninth Illinois Infantry Volunteers. As the two officers led the Ninth off to war, Mersy condemned Paine as a martinet and a politician. Within a few months, however, Paine received a promotion to general that left Mersy in charge of the Ninth. Once Grant began his Tennessee River campaign, the Ninth found itself in the thick of battle, bearing the brunt at Fort Donelson of the Confederate attempt to break Grant's siege lines. Less than two months later, the Ninth shored up sagging Union lines after the surprise Confederate attack at Shiloh Church, retreating only when their ammunition was gone. Depleted in numbers, the Ninth received 103 men from the 128th Illinois from Williamson County and 105 imprisoned deserters, who, under the influence of the veterans of the Ninth, became acceptable soldiers. After eighteen months of heavy fighting, the Ninth guarded supply lines. When the original three-year enlistment expired, only forty veterans from the original regiment reenlisted.