NONFICTION
'Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen" By Philip Dray. Houghton Mifflin, 463 pages, $30
Calling any period in a nation's history "unique" is a questionable assertion; history tends to repeat itself —- wars, sometimes rocky and sometimes smooth government succession, economic depressions, economic boom times, illness outbreaks of epidemic proportions, ebbs and flows in respect for human rights. But of all the intervals in the history of the United States, Reconstruction (1865-1877) is perhaps the most unusual.
With the end of the Civil War, the subjugated Southern states seemed not only unrecognizable because of the physical devastation, but also because of new laws and new cultures —- mostly imposed by Northerners —- meant to lessen the poison of slavery in particular and racial discrimination in general.
Philip Dray is accomplished at making U.S. racial history accessible, as he has demonstrated so well before, most notably in his book "At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America." Other authors are worthy predecessors when focusing on Reconstruction, especially Eric Foner, a Columbia University history professor. "Capitol Men" is an excellent choice for both newcomers to the Reconstruction saga, and those already informed about the period. That is because Dray tells the story primarily through 16 condensed biographies —- black Southerners elected to the U.S. Congress right after the Civil War.
Much of the book's admirable tension springs from the obvious: Previously oppressed blacks leaving their home states to live in Washington while hoping to affect public policy in a Caucasian-dominated world.
A secondary, less obvious, source of tension derives from diametrically opposed perspectives on Reconstruction. Dray opens the book with contrasting quotations, each from a prominent black figure.
The upbeat perspective comes from Booker T. Washington: "One of the surprising results of the Reconstruction period was that there should spring from among the members of a race that had been held so long in slavery, so large a number of shrewd, resolute, resourceful and even brilliant men who became, during this brief period of storms and stress, the political leaders of the new enfranchised race."
Paul Laurence Dunbar suggests a cynical outlook: "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and others lived during the Reconstruction period."
From the hindsight year of 2008, Dray echoes more of Washington's admiration than Dunbar's cynicism, despite the ultimate failure of Reconstruction to memorialize racial equity.
He calls the achievements of the period "considerable," including "stride in universal education, the forging of black political know-how and leadership, broad national efforts to solve problems of racial prejudice and injustice, and the creation of laws that, although largely nullified by the Supreme Court, stayed on the books, a valuable heirloom in the nation's attic trunk, available for use at an appropriate future time. They would be crucial to the civil rights revolution of the mid-20th century."
Dray's big picture statements are interesting. In fact, they often seemed ripped from the headlines, as election officials (usually partisans of the Republican Party) across the United States during the 21st century use various techniques to disenfranchise black voters (usually planning to vote for the Democratic Party).
The guts of the book, however, is the flesh of the characters. Perhaps the most accomplished of all is Blanche K. Bruce, born a slave in Virginia, who managed to achieve an education due to relatively tolerant "owners."
After the Civil War, he knew entering politics was his goal. So he settled in a rural Mississippi county with about four blacks to every white, and found a way to get along with almost everyone.
As he paved his way to the U.S. Senate, not many objected given his accomplishments as a local school superintendent and his genial manner.
Given the experimental and controversial nature of Reconstruction, black members of Congress "tended to be —- had to be —- exceptional individuals," Dray comments, "survivors who had emerged from a world of slavery and war to stand as spokesmen for their race." His group biography set in a time past does them all justice.
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Civil War: The president, the generals, the submarine
NONFICTION
"Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief" by James M. McPherson. Penguin Press, 329 pages, $35
If Abraham Lincoln had lost the presidential election of 1860, perhaps something called Reconstruction would never have occurred —- or perhaps it would have occurred, but much later in the young nation's history. That 1860 election revolved not only around the slavery issue, but also around the perception of which presidential candidate could best serve as commander in chief during the incipient Civil War.
Lincoln had accumulated no meaningful military experience before becoming president. His adversary, Confederacy president Jefferson Davis, on the other hand, had graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Furthermore, Davis had commanded troops during the Mexican War and had served as U.S. secretary of war from 1853 to 1857.
Still, Lincoln's analytical mind made him an effective commander in chief, a role he largely defined as president. McPherson, a Princeton University professor who is one of the best-known Civil War historians, skillfully demonstrates how the mind worked when conferring with the Union's generals.
NONFICTION
"Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest and the Campaign That Decided the Civil War" by Jack Hurst. Basic Books, 442 pages, $18.95 (trade paperback; originally published in hardback in 2007)
Of all the generals conferring with President Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant was in so many ways first among equals. Jack Hurst, a journalist residing near Nashville, discusses Grant's strengths and shortcomings largely within the context of battles fought along the Tennessee-Kentucky border, at forts Henry and Donelson, during winter 1862.
Nathan Bedford Forrest helped command the Confederate troops during the protracted, high-mortality battles. His performance catapulted him to the top ranks of the Confederacy generals, then procured him a place of fame in the vast literature following the Civil War.
Lincoln and Grant had to calculate the tactics, courage and persistence of the Confederate commanders during the Civil War, among other factors. Hurst's ability to effectively contrast and compare the Union and Confederate commanders constitutes the strength of his book.
NONFICTION
"The H.L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy," by Tom Chaffin. Hill and Wang, 324 pages, $26
While a child, Tom Chaffin watched a television series on CBS called "The Great Adventure," devoted to educating the audience via historical vignettes. A 1966 episode told of the H.L. Hunley, a submarine built by the Confederacy during the Civil War, a submarine that actually sank a Union vessel in 1864.
"A submarine during the American Civil War?" Chaffin thought. "And a Confederate one at that? Who would have known?" Much later, a history professor at the University of Tennessee, Chaffin decided to document the submarine's lineage. This book is the result.
Submarine warfare did not play a major role in the Civil War. Although the dual darknesses of slavery and death constitute the backdrop, the book is primarily a gee-whiz, easy-to-read niche history. Chaffin explains who conceived the submarine, how they got it built during cash-starved war time, and why it proved effective against the enemy, however briefly.
For those who treasure peace, the legacy of the H.L. Hunley boded ill. Centuries before the Civil War, Leonardo da Vinci refused to publish his sketches of a submarine. Presciently, da Vinci feared it would welcome to the world's waters "men who would practice assassinations at the bottom of the sea."
