Splendid Failure: Postwar Reconstruction in the American South

SPLENDID FAILURE: POSTWAR RECONSTRUCTION IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH is a pick recommended for any college-level collection strong in American Civil War history in general and Southern history in particular. It analyzes and surveys the role of the Radical Republication Reconstruction policies which followed the war with particular attention to the role they played in the overthrow of their own program, offering a different interpretation of Reconstruction and the struggle for civil liberties in the South. An excellent survey evolves which offers depth and detail especially suitable for classroom debate and discussion.

Splendid Failure by Fitzgerald is an excellent book which can give anyone a good background in the history of Reconstruction. The book is easy to read and is accessible to anyone without much knowledge in American history. Most of all, however, the book places the Reconstruction in the larger context of American history, also examining the forces of industrialization in America and the impacts that the Civil War had on the South. Through this multi-faceted approach, the reader can gain a thoughtful and clear perspective on the Reconstruction. -Highly Recommended