About this item
In his Second Inaugural Address, delivered as the nation was in the throes of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that both sides "read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other." He wasn't speaking metaphorically: the Bible was frequently wielded as a weapon in support of both North and South. As James P. Byrd reveals in this insightful narrative, no book was more important to the Civil War than the Bible. From Massachusetts to Mississippi and beyond, the Bible was the nation's most read and respected book. It presented a drama of salvation and damnation, of providence and judgment, of sacred history and sacrifice. When Americans argued over the issues that divided them -- slavery, secession, patriotism, authority, white supremacy, and violence -- the Bible was the book they most often invoked.
About the Author
James P. Byrd earned his master's degree at Duke University and his Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University. His research interests center on religion, violence, and the Bible in American history. His latest book is Sacred Scripture, Sacred War: The Bible and the American Revolution (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013) . He has recently completed a book on the Bible and the American Civil War, also under contract with Oxford University Press.
