Out of the storm

Out of the Storm is a moving and dramatic account of the final months of the American Civil War. In the spring of 1865, after four years of devastating conflict, the North and South had their final reckoning. For the men and women whose fierce determination to preserve their way of life had sustained the Confederacy, it was a time to confront the bitter truth that all was lost. For Abraham Lincoln, standing at the threshold of a long-awaited triumph, it was both a time to reconcile the cost of what had been won and a time to move forward, to rebuild the nation and heal its grievous wounds. Although most Civil War histories close with Lee's surrender at Appomattox, it took three more months to end this bloodiest of all American wars. These final months of struggle and change are explored in vivid detail in Out of the Storm. There are the final military campaigns of the war: Grant's pursuit of Lee; Sherman's death embrace with Johnston's army in North Carolina; and Wilson's relentless sweep through central Alabama and Georgia. There are compelling accounts of the tragic sinking of the steamboat Sultana (America's worst maritime disaster); the tremendous munitions explosion that leveled a large section of Mobile; the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the hunt for his killer; and the pursuit and capture of Jefferson Davis. Offering viewpoints of both North and South, Noah Andre Trudeau follows the domino-like collapse of the Confederacy, presenting poignant stories of individual courage and honor amid irrevocable chaos and change. This defining moment in the history of the United States has received surprisingly little study; it was a period of transition from a society at war with itself to a restored peace. Drawing upon an impressive body of personal reminiscences, memoirs, and previously unpublished material, Out of the Storm is a rich and memorable portrait of the last months of conflict. With this third volume, Trudeau completes his celebrated Civil War trilogy. Bloody Roads South, which won the prestigious Fletcher Pratt Award, recounted the fierce battle of Grant and Lee in Virginia in the spring of 1864. The Last Citadel was the first full-length treatment of the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. Now, Out of the Storm presents the final act of this profound epic in our history. - Jacket flap.