Two Communities in the Civil War

This selection of documents offers an insightful look at one Northern and one Southern community only 200 miles apart in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War.

The casebook focuses on the deep connections between homefront and battlefront and on the centrality of slavery to the conflict, emphasizing the profound uncertainty and confusion that prevailed during the war.

Edward L. Ayers, a recipient of the National Humanities Medal, has won the Bancroft and Lincoln Prizes for his innovative histories of Civil War America. He is president emeritus of the University of Richmond, where he is executive director of New American History.