Randall Fuller makes use of a volcano metaphor to begin and end his enthusiastic yet complex task of exploring the effects of the divisive Civil War upon American literature. To the poets and authors of the late 19th century, the explosive nature of a volcano epitomized the war between states and gave birth to a new era of writing that tried to make sense of a national tragedy. The eruption of war brought an abrupt end to the romantic writing of the time and replaced it with the new reality of the devastation of a long and bloody war.

From Ft. Sumter to Appomattox and from Uncle Tom’s Cabin to The Gates Ajar, the second bestselling novel of the 19th century in which comfort was given to postwar readers, Dr. Fuller gives a well-documented and highly readable overview of both history and literature. Through the eyes of the icons of America’s chroniclers including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, et al., we see the profound influence of four years of fiery waves of battles and the toll of the infinite dead on the language of this period. I highly recommend this vibrant record of a defining time that forever changed the American way of life. ( )