The Road to Reunion, 1865-1900

The tragedy of any war cannot be measured in loss of life alone. The deadening weight which defeat brings to the spirit of the conquered people, with the consequent aftermath of national apathy, costs dearly. The Civil War almost broke up our nation. It took a great many years to wipe out the spiritual enmity between the North and the South, much of it caused after the War by stupid political moves and brutal handling of a defeated people.

This book is a modern and interesting approach to the subject of reconciliation — from 1865, when the North and South were split wide apart, to 1900, when they were reunited and again nationally harmonious. It is written from the point of view of a historian who is also a philosopher. It is more than a factual history of the period, for, unlike other books on the subject, it does not lay all its stress on economic adjustment; rather it interprets the social background of the period. Dr. Buck speaks freely of the years during which the South began to write; the effect of the power of the pen on the North; the Southern youth who were growing up during the eighties; the passing of the sectional issue in politics; the Negro problem; and, finally, of the economic integration and co-operation between the two sections.

Dr. Buck, who has been associated with the Department of History at Harvard University for the past eleven years, has written a highly informative—as well as novel and entertaining—interpretation of the soul of the Southern people which traces the gradual adjustment of mental differences to the assimilation of a patriotism for the United States. The distinction between this book and others on this period may be found in the difference between the meaning of the words "reconstruction" and "reconciliation."