Two new books bridge the years since the Civil War.
Steve Inskeep, cohost of NPR's Morning Edition, writes of the cunning and affability of Abraham Lincoln. Avoiding the well-tread ground of Lincoln's story, Inskeep instead writes of the President's relationships with friends and family, critics and rivals. The book, Inskeep's fourth, is called in Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America.
Then, historian Scott Hartwig leads us onto battlefield during the bloodiest day in American history.
Hartwig investigated the Maryland Campaign of the Civil War for decades. He worked in the National Park Service for 34 years as an interpretive ranger, and was supervisory historian at Gettysburg National Military Park.
His book is I Dread the Thought of the Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign.