Brian Matthew Jordan is an associate professor of history at Sam Houston State University. His first book, Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History. He lives in Willis, Texas.
Framed as a Homeric odyssey, Jordan's tale of the Union soldier combines unflinching honesty with generous humanity. -- James Oakes, author of Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861 - 1865 An eloquent elegy to the Boys in Blue. . . . Sensitively written and impeccably researched. . . . Will stand as an important contribution to the history of the American veteran. -- Allegra di Bonaventura, author of For Adam's Sake: A Family Saga in Colonial New England A somber portrait of the reality of Union veterans' postwar lives. . . . Theirs is a story that had to be told, and Brian Matthew Jordan tells it very well. The research is impeccable, and the writing finely crafted. . . . Highly recommended. -- Jeffry D. Wert - Civil War News Yet another cautionary tale from the Civil War-that the pain of war endures long after the stacking of arms or the signing of an armistice. A fact that those who clamor for U.S. military intervention in every conflict too often forget. -- Frank Reeves - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Readers . . . will come away with a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices soldiers make; many living veterans will thank Jordan for his attention to an often neglected but important aspect of U.S. military history. -- Walter Russell Mead - Foreign Affairs A far darker narrative of veterans profoundly and permanently alienated from a civilian public that neither understood nor properly acknowledged their wartime sacrifice. . . . Powerful. -- Gary W. Gallagher - Washington Post A rich trove of journals, letters and published accounts reveal[s] the enormous toll that the Civil War took on its participants. . . . Books like [Marching Home] contribute to a much broader cultural narrative. -- Randall Fuller - Wall Street Journal