Editors' Overview

This issue marks the beginning of our sixtieth year of publication. Civil War History first appeared in January 1955, featuring contributions by "the dean of Civil War History," Douglas Southall Freeman, and the "well known" T. Harry Williams. As we commemorate the journal's silver anniversary, we return to these two influential historians in differing ways. Keith Dickson takes stock of Freeman's extensive writings on Robert E. Lee and the Confederate high command, affirming: "By creating his subjects so carefully, he also crafted an idea of the South that animates the narrative and allows the reader to feel, to know, to understand." Ethan S. Rafuse examines fascinating correspondence between Williams and President Harry S. Truman who read and enjoyed William's Lincoln and His Generals (Louisiana State University Press, 1952). "History," Rafuse observes, "is the product of dialogue between the present and past, as well as between its writers and readers—though one that rarely takes place between such conspicuous members of the historical profession and consumers of history as T. Harry Williams and Harry Truman."

At the same time as it glances back upon this journal's origins, this issue also looks to the future, publishing articles by younger scholars. William B. Kurtz's "Let Us Hear No More 'Nativism'": The Catholic Press in the Mexican and Civil Wars" compares Catholic newspaper editors' attitudes about both conflicts. "Paths to Reconciliation: Northern Intersectional Romances of the Civil War Era," by Megan L. Bever, uses wartime fiction to probe the ways white northerners (mainly women) conceived of reuniting and reconstructing the nation. We further recognize the loss of Robert W. Johannsen, a frequent contributor to these pages; Bruce Tap, one of Johannsen's students, provides us with a thoughtful tribute to his mentor.

Our Reviews section reflects the continued vibrancy of our field. In addition to the latest titles by James McPherson and Louis Masur, we review new works on Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution, the war in Missouri and the Confederate heartland, and the memory of military engagements at Corinth and Petersburg. We also review the recent PBS documentary on the abolitionists. With sixty years of scholarship behind us, the future of Civil War History looks very bright indeed.