MHS News

Massachusetts and the Civil War in August Issue of Choice

Massachusetts Historical Society volume rated “highly recommended” by Choice, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries 

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) announced today that Choice rated Massachusetts and the Civil War: The Commonwealth and National Disunion “highly recommended” in its August 2016 issue. Published by the University of Massachusetts Press (June 2015) and edited by Matthew Mason, Katheryn P. Viens, and Conrad Edick Wright, the volume, consisting of ten essays, coalesces around the national significance of Massachusetts through the Civil War era. 

Choice is the publishing branch of the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, and the go-to source for librarians seeking worthwhile new titles for their collection. The review states, “Overall, the volume argues for the ‘distinctive or peculiar’ ways in which the experience of Massachusetts influenced ‘the great crisis of national unity.’ One important theme throughout the essays is an exploration of how and why those seeking to end slavery joined forces with those who sought the more robust reform platform of black citizenship and black American equality. The authors point to the securitization of the federal state, violence embedded in the political process, racial prejudice, the flow of information in an age of letter writing, and much more. This rich collection speaks not only to those focused on Massachusetts but also to New England and the nation.”

MHS Worthington C. Ford Editor and Director of Research Conrad Edick Wright commented that he "was thrilled to hear of this recommendation.” He continued, “It will bring this important volume to the attention of libraries and librarians across the United States.”

About the editors

Matthew Mason is associate professor of history at Brigham Young University. Kathryn P. Viens is research coordinator at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Conrad Edick Wright is Worthington C. Ford Editor and director of research at the Massachusetts Historical Society and author of Revolutionary Generation: Harvard Men and the Consequences of Independence (University of Massachusetts Press, 2005).