BookTalk

This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust

The Civil War was fought by hundreds of thousands of “citizen soldier” who died by the hundreds of thousands far from home. Forty percent (40%) of the 360,000 soldiers that died were never identified. How did that effect the loved ones who waited for news or who simply wanted to grieve over the remains that never were located?

This book eloquently explores how our nation came to terms with such catastrophic losses, as a nation. It is an intimate telling of how the government came to take on the new responsibility of accounting for names, burying the fallen, and “caring” for those who sacrificed their lives for their country; and thereby taking an active role in the healing of the Union.

It is a painful but profound explanation of the terrible costs of that war and of how we struggled to maintain our humanity despite it.