America's Civil War took a dreadful toll on human lives, and the emotional repercussions were exacerbated by tales of battlefield atrocities, improper burials and by the lack of news that many received about the fate of their loved ones. Amidst widespread religious doubt and social skepticism, spiritualism--the belief that the spirits of the dead existed and could communicate with the living--filled a psychological void by providing a pathway towards closure during a time of mourning, and by promising an eternal reunion in the afterlife regardless of earthly sins. Primary research, including 55 months of the weekly spiritual newspaper, The Banner of Light and records of hundreds of soldiers' and family members' spirit messages, reveals unique insights into battlefield deaths, the transition to spirit life, and the motivations prompting ethereal communications. This book focuses extensively on spiritualism's religious, political, and commercial activities during the war years, as well as the controversies surrounding the faith, strengthening the connection between ante- and postbellum studies of spiritualism.

Wars do not end with peace. When America's Civil War was over it set the stage for another, more enduring conflict, as a fractured society confronted the lingering psychological consequences that followed the four brutal years of deprivation, distrust, and death. The enemy was intangible, lurking in the minds of the war's survivors. Like any great conflict, the battles raged back and forth, as the war weary fought the mental demons. Silenced by stigma and shame, the suffering of the War's survivors surfaced in statistics as the rates of depression, suicide, insanity, crime, and cults climbed. For others, alcohol abuse or a morally suitable misuse of patent medicines relieved the daily distress. Dispirited and distrustful survivors spurned traditional religion and medical practice and sought solace from shady spiritualists and duplicitous doctors dispensing phony panaceas. Epic battles fought across America's landscape inspired countless books on the guts and glory of war but the lingering emotional consequences of conflict are neither glamorous nor visible, making this book unique in its comprehensive coverage of an often ignored cost of conflict.