This "masterful treatment of one of the most complex periods of American history" (New Republic) made history itself when first published in 1988. It redefined how Reconstruction was viewed in its chronicling of how Americans -- both black and white -- responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the war and the end of slavery.


Eric Foner explores all aspects of Reconstruction, from race relations to politics to economic change in a clear and accessible style that brings this tumultuous era to life. This award-winning volume has become the classic work on the wrenching post-Civil War period -- an era whose legacy still reverberates today.

Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University, is the author of numerous works on American history, including Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War; Tom Paine and Revolutionary America; and The Story of American Freedom. He has served as president of both the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association, and has been named Scholar of the Year by the New York Council for the Humanities.

"With this book, Mr. Foner becomes the preeminent historian of Reconstruction." -- New York Times Book Review

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