I have been reading about the Civil War since I came to Virgina. James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom had been my favorite until I read The Mighty Scourge. This is a series of essays on various topics related to the Civil War. Karen and I were chatting about the Civil war last week and I said that slavery wasn't the issue, it was state's rights. But then, state's rights is just code for slavery. Which is almost exactly what McPherson wrote. I didn't know that at the time. Karen, of course, agreed. That was one of his articles, the underlying cause of the war. He also writes about Harriet Tubman, the generals, Jesse James, how the war was lost, and much more. It is all interesting. And I believe that McPherson is very balanced in his judgement.

And now I begin three weeks of work. So much for lovely days of book reading. I've just started Manchester's first book about Winston Churchill. I think that too will take three weeks.