America Aflame

How the Civil War Created a Nation

By: David Goldfield

Narrated by: David Drummond

In this spellbinding new history, David Goldfield offers the first major new interpretation of the Civil War era since James M. McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. Where past scholars have interpreted the war as a triumph of freedom, Goldfield sees it as America's greatest failure: the result of a breakdown caused by the infusion of evangelical religion into the public sphere. As the Second Great Awakening surged through America, political questions became matters of good and evil to be fought to the death. The price of that failure was horrific, but the carnage accomplished what statesmen could not: it made the United States one nation and eliminated slavery as a divisive force in the Union. The victorious North became synonymous with America as a land of innovation and industrialization, whose teeming cities offered squalor and opportunity in equal measure. Religion was supplanted by science and a gospel of progress, and the South was left behind. Goldfield's panoramic narrative, sweeping from the 1840s to the end of Reconstruction, is studded with memorable details and luminaries such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman. There are lesser known yet equally compelling characters, too, including Carl Schurz---a German immigrant, war hero, and post-war reformer---and Alexander Stephens, the urbane and intellectual vice president of the Confederacy. America Aflame is a vivid portrait of the "fiery trial" that transformed the country we live in.

©2011 David Goldfield (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Not just a reappraisal of the Civil War, but an exemplary cultural study of 19th-century America." ( Kirkus, Starred Review)

Great and indepth

What did you love best about America Aflame?

All the factors religion played into the events leading up to the Civil War, I had listened too Battle Cry of Freedom, and these two audio books will give a great education on the civil war.

What was one of the most memorable moments of America Aflame?

The burning of the Ursuline Convent in Boston

What about David Drummond’s performance did you like?

A even paced voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it was good and interesting but 27 or so hours to sit and listen it is not.

Any additional comments?

How complicit northern (New England) industry & banking was with slavery in the south.

Divisiveness in America

Really good history of conflict and divisions in America culminating in The Civil War. Also covers Reconstruction well. Author and Narrator make it very interesting.

Incredible Cultural History!

Though Goldfield covers political history from the 1840s to the 1870s sufficiently, what really makes this book shine is the way that he weaves in theology, poetry, economics, and European context. For those not at all familiar with the period, it may demand that he look up some events (references to the Paris Commune, etc), but it remains accessible. The narrator is clear: I listened to the book at x3 speed and had no trouble following along, which can’t be said for all recordings.

Highly recommended!