In the mode of last year’s Civil War-themed The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, and the upcoming Midnight on the Potomac by Scott Ellsworth, Jay Winik’s new “1861: The Lost Peace” is more story than history. The intention is not for the names and dates and details to be enlivened by Winik’s expressive writing and engaging storytelling - instead, the writing and storytelling themselves appear to be the main attraction. The journey, not necessarily the destination, is the point.

In fact, the specific destination was unclear to me as the book unfolded. The title seems to lament a peace that was “lost,” as though peace between the North and South was ever really at hand, and that war could have been avoided if only that mythical peace had been maintained. Instead, the narrative, about ever-increasing tensions and hopeless last-minute attempts to compromise, generally conveys the very opposite of what the title suggests.

So while the destination is uncertain, the focus instead is on everything there is to see along the way. For a book called “1861,” the narrative doesn’t actually reach 1861 until nearly two-thirds of the way in. And though Lincoln features prominently on the book’s cover, he’s far from the main focus much of the time. Instead, the journey takes us through the entirety of the antebellum period, with a character-focused narrative featuring familiar figures like John Brown, Charles Sumner, Stephen Douglas and Dred Scott, and some lesser-known figures like the enslaved Silas Jackson, whose early inclusion in the book suggests he’s going to play an important part later on, but then he doesn’t.

It’s all very well-written, with vivid descriptions of sights and sounds that put you in the story. And the chapters are very short, which helps to keep things moving along, so it never drags.

But that leaves little time to dig into complexities, so some situations are oversimplified for the sake of narrative flow. And some descriptions of Lincoln are oversimplified to the point of making him unrecognizable. “His public actions concerning slavery invariably stood in contrast to his proslavery arguments,” Winik writes about Lincoln at one point, without detailing what “proslavery arguments” Lincoln ever made. Lincoln is also described as being “like a number of southerners… who tolerated the institution while quietly holding his nose,” which somewhat mischaracterizes his strong anti-slavery views. And Lincoln’s “ultimate goal was not intellectual consistency on slavery, but strategy,” which suggests he was inconsistent in opposing slavery and was more concerned with politicking.

The purported “lost peace” begins to come into play in the months and weeks leading up to president-elect Lincoln’s inauguration. The proposed Crittenden Compromise is portrayed as one such “lost” opportunity for peace, though it never really had a chance of passing Congress. Much is made of the Peace Conference of 1861 - “the debates about to take place would be among the most momentous in the nation's lifespan,” Winik writes breathlessly - though the conference consisted of a lot of talk and posturing without any real chance of achieving or maintaining peace. The proposed Corwin Amendment, one of the last Hail Mary attempts at compromise that would have protected slavery in the southern states from federal interference, earned Lincoln’s tepid endorsement, since it was generally consistent with his beliefs on what the Constitution already prevented anyway, and was an attempt by him to show the South that he was reasonable. Winik, though, describes Lincoln’s support as “a momentous step for the slave-hating Lincoln,” which it wasn’t really. And the amendment had about as much chance of achieving peace as any other failed attempt at compromise that came before it.

The final chapters are very good at portraying the anxiety and pressure that Lincoln faced in weighing conflicting recommendations on what to do about the Fort Sumter crisis, before any remaining hopes for peace were extinguished for good.

The epilogue attempts to hammer home the idea of the “lost peace,” as Winik mentions the phrase eight times in just three pages. But he also observes how the “lost peace” sparked a “necessary war,” a phrase he uses three times. So by the end, it’s not clear whether he’s lamenting the “lost peace” that never was, or grateful that the North and South finally gave up trying to achieve peace through papered-over compromises and fought it out instead.

Winik’s “Note on Sources” at the very end mentions that he sought to provide a “very different understanding of the start of the Civil War," describing how he had “extensively woven primary with secondary sources, including contemporary newspaper accounts, letters, articles, books, and pamphlets.” Aside from perhaps overstating the prospects for peace, and misstating some of Lincoln’s positions, I didn’t find his take on the start of the Civil War to be “very different,” necessarily. And I would have liked to know more about the “newspaper accounts, letters, articles, books, and pamphlets” he consulted, but my copy of the book had no end notes or bibliography whatsoever.

In the end, there’s not much new information here for anyone already familiar with the lead-up to the Civil War. But then even Winik acknowledges that's not really the point. “A subject as vast as Abraham Lincoln ultimately has few new facts available,” he writes. So he says he “labored intensively to find novel and hidden insights” on the subject.

I’m not entirely sure that he did, since I didn't buy the “lost peace” premise, and it's unclear how much Winik believed it either. He did certainly succeed in writing an engaging story, though. So as a pleasant read, the journey was mostly worth it. I just wish I could say the same about the destination.

1861: A Lost Peace is an emotionally resonant look at Lincoln and the tension of America in the lead up to the civil war.

While 1861 does feel similar in ways to Larson's Demon Of Unrest, I firmly believe this narrative is unique, and allows for these titles to coexist in this respective niche of a sprawling topic like the Civil War.

Winik uses expressive character narrative to highlight the fragility of the times that ultimately steered the country to its greatest civil conflict.

The story weaves seamlessly through different characters, emotions and events as Winik taps into fear, ambition, and misjudgments that shaped America's ultimate fate.

Human-driven narratives like this deserve a seat at the table filled with the likes of countless military histories, and political narratives.

I received an ARC copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review on my Goodreads page. This book is due out on May 27, 2005.

1861 serves as a thoughtful prequel of sorts to Jay Winik’s acclaimed April 1865, offering a compelling narrative of the tense months leading up to the American Civil War following Abraham Lincoln’s election. One of the book’s standout elements is its focus on the lesser-known Peace Conference of early 1861 in Washington, D.C.—a fascinating attempt at avoiding the impending national fracture.

Winik does an excellent job developing historical figures with concise biographical sketches that enrich the broader narrative. The writing is clear and accessible, even as it dives deep into meticulously researched detail. Despite the book’s density, it remains highly readable, striking a nice balance between scholarly insight and storytelling.

I thoroughly enjoyed 1861 and plan to purchase a finished copy upon its release. A solid and informative read for any fan of American history. 3.5 stars.

This book is the third that I have read by the author and as with the others it is well researched and written. The author takes us through a series of events culminating with the attack on Fort Sumpter that began the civil war. He documents the ongoing attempts to prevent the conflict from occurring, but much like today, two sides were too set in their beliefs and would only compromise if the other side would basically capitulate. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the civil war and what lead up to the beginning of the conflict.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

There have probably been hundreds of books written about the Civil War. I've only read a few of them, but as this work focused on one particular year I was pleased to have the opportunity to review an ARC of 1861. I want to thank author Jay Winik, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for the chance to review. I attest the following review is my own unbiased work.

Winik's 1861 resembles the recent Erik Larson book The Demon of Unrest in that both writers cover the events that lead up to the first shots fired at Fort Sumter. The Demon of Unrest is more detailed, and covers a longer period of history. 1861 covers the months before Abraham Lincoln's inauguration (set at that time in March, not January as we have it today), and the first month of his Presidency. But it is not appropriate to compare the two books except to say that they deal with the same topic, but in different ways.

As Winik stated in his acknowledgement, the author looked for new nuggets of information that other historians may overlook. The book covers a lot of ground in the leadup to the Civil War, and does it in a compact 308 pages of text. The writing is very crisp, as was the research underlying its execution.

I learned some new things and enjoyed reading the book. I give it 4.25 stars, rounded down to 4.0.

I found this to be equal to Winik's "April 1865" although the story was best in the lead up to 1861 instead of the 4 months that are detailed in the year 1861. A lot of the story paralleled the recent released book "The Demon of Unrest" which detailed the lead-up and fall of Fort Sumter in a better way that this book did. Winik crafts an engrossing narrative and I bookends the Civil War well with his other book.

It is amazing that there are new books about Abraham Lincoln that continue to uncover new perspectives on his presidency. 1861 by Jay Winik does exactly that. It’s a solid, but not exhaustive look at the run up to the pivotal year, 1861. It’s approachable reading and a deserved entry in the Lincoln canon. Thanks to #netgalley and #grandcentralpress for the opportunity to preview this book.