Jews and the Civil War: A Reader

"In gathering together these widely scattered essays, Professors Mendelsohn and Sarna reveal that we know much more than we ever thought we did about Jews and this great conflict, Just as the Civil War divided Americans; it divided Jews, Jews debated slavery; Jewish soldiers wore the blue and the gray: and Jewish wives, in the North and the South, spent the war years longing for their menfolk. Civil War buffs, historians, and anyone interested in the cataclysm which rent the nation will welcome this marvelous collection depicting how one group of Americans experienced that terrible time" Pamela S. Nadell, Inaugural Patrick Clendenen Professor of History, American University

"An excellent volume which contains many of the most authoritative scholarly essays on American Jewry and the Civil War. The volume sheds historical light on a wide range of fascinating subjects including Jews and slavery, Jews and Abolition, Jews in the military, and much more. Readers will be especially grateful for the learned and insightful editorial introductions that serve as forewords to each of the thematic sections. All those interested in the Civil War will want to own a copy of this rich resource. It is truly a cornucopia of historical insight"

AT LEAST 8,000 JEWISH SOLDIERS fought for the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. A few served together in Jewish companies while most fought alongside Christian comrades. Yet even as they stood "shoulder-to-shoulder" on the front lines, they encountered unique challenges.

In Jews and the Civil War, editors Jonathan D. Sarna and Adam Mendelsohn assemble for the first time the foremost scholarship on Jews and the Civil War, little known even to specialists in the field. These accessible and far-ranging essays from leading scholars are grouped into seven thematic sections---Jews and Slavery, Jews and Abolition, Rabbis and the March to War, Jewish Soldiers during the Civil War, The Home Front, Jews as a Class, and Aftermath---each with an introduction by the editors.

Together the pieces gathered here reappraise the impact of the war on Jews in the North and the South, offering a rich and fascinating portrait of the experience of Jewish soldiers and civilians from the home front to the battle front.

Gary P. Zola, Professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Executive Director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio
Jonathan D. Sarna is the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and Chief Historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History. He has written, edited, or co-edited more than twenty-five books, including American Judaism: A History, winner of the Jewish Book of the Year Award from the Jewish Book Council.
Adam Mendelsohn is Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston.