Quotes
“Conroy is a terrific writer who tells the story of one of
the war’s least known episodes, the Hampton Roads Peace Conference. But it is
the way he describes the people around Lincoln, their interaction with him and
each other, that makes this such a good read. Great anecdotes—if you’re like me
you’ll find yourself pausing every few pages and saying, ‘I never knew that’—my
favorite kind of book!” CBS News
“A brilliant account of the doomed effort to end the Civil War through diplomacy…In this excellent debut, Boston-based attorney Conroy vividly captures the hope, weariness, despair, and anger of the moment and the complexity of feelings on both sides…A splendid addition to any Civil War library.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Conroy’s impressively thorough and engaging document details the events leading up to, during, and immediately after the Hampton Roads Peace Conference, which has never before been the sole subject of a book…Conroy draws on private journals, official notes, newspaper reports, and more as he untangles this important, but often overlooked, moment in history.” Publishers Weekly
“A richly detailed, carefully analyzed, and well-written
account of the Hampton Roads meeting…An excellent and long-needed
addition to Civil War historiography.” Michael B. Ballard, author of Grant at Vicksburg and A Long Shadow
“In this massively researched, exceptionally well-written
book, James Conroy has illuminated and set in its historical context an episode
familiar and yet hitherto not closely examined. By carefully inserting
vignettes of the actual fighters into the big picture, he gives his account an
immediacy and human dimension rarely found in serious historical
works. This is, moreover, a page-turner to be read for sheer pleasure.”
Hiller B. Zobel, author of The Boston Massacre
“Exhaustively researched and engagingly written, James
Conroy’s account of the Hampton Roads Conference makes an important
contribution to the field of Civil War studies. General readers will enjoy the
memorable portraits of individuals and the convincing re-creation of popular
emotions as the war ground toward its close. Scholars will have to take more
seriously the abundant evidence of the priority that Lincoln gave to
conciliating Southern whites, in order to gain their cooperation in Reconstruction.” Paul D. Escott, Reynolds Professor of History, Wake Forest University, and author of After Secession
“The
end of the Civil War is one of those bits of history we all think we know:
Appomattox and all that. This audiobook opens up the story of the men who were
trying to end the carnage weeks and months earlier, most notably through a
peace conference at Hampton Roads, Virginia. Narrator Malcolm Hillgartner lets
the story carry itself without unnecessary added drama and shades his voice
just enough that we can tell when quotations start and end. He conveys passion
where it’s warranted, particularly in the Southern editorials, without jarring
the overall tenor of the production.” AudioFile
