Our One Common Country: Abraham Lincoln and the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865

摘要

Even dedicated students of the war likely knew little about the Hampton Roads (Va.) Peace Conference before Steven Spielberg made it part of his film Lincoln. Few, I'm sure, can forget Spielberg's portrayal of the Southern peace commissioners traveling north to meet with President Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward in February 1865. Anyone wanting to know more about the event is in luck. James B. Conroy's Our One Common Country is the first full-length book on the subject. Part of the challenge Conroy faced in telling the story of what took place aboard the River Queen, anchored near Fort Monroe, is that the participants agreed no notes would be taken. But at different times, the men left a record of what they discussed.