The Negro's Civil War - James M McPherson

In this classic study,
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson deftly narrates
the experience of blacks--former slaves and soldiers, preachers, visionaries, doctors,
intellectuals, and common people--during the Civil War. Drawing on contemporary journalism,
speeches, books, and letters, he presents an eclectic chronicle of their fears and
hopes as well as their essential contributions to their own freedom. Through the
words of these extraordinary participants, both Northern and Southern, McPherson
captures African-American responses to emancipation, the shifting attitudes toward
Lincoln and the life of black soldiers in the Union army. Above all, we are allowed
to witness the dreams of a disenfranchised people eager to embrace the rights and
the equality offered to them, finally, as citizens.