I believe that if given the choice to read any history book, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory by David W. Blight would be among the top picks. Most books about the Civil War would convince a person that either the North or the South was completely to blame for everything that happened, while completely disregarding the huge gray area in between. Blight seems to do a great job at eliminating the subliminal Northern or Southern pride that find their way into most of these books and presents both sides of the coin, rather that just heads or tails.
Nowadays, it’s a very common thing for people to believe that history is written by the winners. However, when it comes to a social matter, as was mentioned in the review, there are two major battles – the physical and the mental. The war is not over until both battles are won, and I believe that that’s exactly what Blight is trying to do by presenting the reader with information that might have possibly been obscured.