David W. Blight’s book, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, discusses the different views towards the history of the Civil War. The book addresses two different controversial memories of the war, the emancipationist and the reconciliationist. It seemed as if most people were only acquainted with the Civil War with certain facts of the events that took place throughout. What I particularly liked was the recognition of the African Americans that was identified by Eric Foner, who took part in the Civil War but were left to be only remembered as servants and not accredited for their achievement. This book offers the reader to learn about a different perspective about the Civil War that many were unaware of.

David Blight’s book does sound interesting to me because it talks about a much more broader view about the Civil War and also because of the debate between the emancipationist and the reconciliationist conceptions. Reading this book can benefit many people including students and others interested in the political discussions of historical memories since not everyone is knowledgeable about the varying historical concepts. It seems like Eric Foner does like the book because of the debating topics. This book review tells you that historical memory is a combination of facts from all types of sources and alternating views.