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Sign up todayThis Republic of Suffering
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Learn moreDuring the Civil War, 620,000 soldiers lost their lives—equivalent to six million in today's population. This Republic of Suffering explores the impact of the enormous death toll from material, political, intellectual, and spiritual angles.
Drew Gilpin Faust delineates the ways death changed not only individual lives, but the life of the nation, and describes how a deeply religious culture reconciled the slaughter with its belief in a benevolent God. Throughout, the viewpoints of soldiers, families, statesmen, generals, preachers, poets, surgeons, and nurses, Northerners and Southerners, slaveholders and freed people, the most exalted, and the most humble are brought together to give a vivid understanding of the Civil War's widely shared reality.
Drew Gilpin Faust is president of Harvard University, the first woman to serve in this role. She is the author of five previous books, including Mothers of Invention. She and her husband live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Lorna Raver, named one of AudioFile magazine’s Best Voices of the Year, has received numerous Audie nominations and AudioFile Earphones Awards. An experienced stage actress, she has also guest-starred on many top television series and starred in director Sam Raimi’s film Drag Me to Hell. Among her many Blackstone titles are The Age of Innocence, Up from Orchard Street, The Lodger, Selected Readings from the Portable Dorothy Parker, and Diamond Ruby.
Reviews
“A moving work of social history, detailing how the Civil War changed perceptions and behaviors about death…An illuminating study.”
“This Republic of Suffering is one of those groundbreaking histories in which a crucial piece of the past, previously overlooked or misunderstood, suddenly clicks into focus.”
“If you read only one book on the Civil War this year, make it this one.”
“Extraordinary…overlooks nothing.’”
“Lorna Raver’s…reserved manner fits the somber topic…Raver’s best moments come as she reads the letters of worried relatives seeking knowledge of the status and whereabouts of soldiers they fear may be dead.”
“A harrowing but fascinating read.”
“Yanks aside the usual veil of history…[and] focuses on ordinary lives under extreme duress, which makes for compelling reading.”
“Eloquent and imaginative…[A] widely and justly praised scholarly history.”
“Shows how thoroughly the work of mourning became the business of capitalism, merchandised throughout a society.”
“An insightful, often moving portrait of a people torn by grief.”
“Anyone wanting to understand the ‘real war’ and its transcendent meaning must face the facts Faust arrays before us.”
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