Join us Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 7 p.m. CT, for a lively discussion with Dr. Yael Sternhell on her latest book, War on Record: The Archive and the Afterlife of the Civil War.

The Civil War generated a vast archive of official records—documents that would shape the postwar era and determine what future generations would know about the war.  Author Yael Sternhell traces these records from their creation during wartime through their deployment in a host of postwar battles, including those between the federal government and Southerners seeking reparations and between veterans blaming each other for defeat.
 
These documents were eventually published in the most important historical collection ever to have been assembled in the United States: The War of the Rebellion: The Official Records of the Union and the Confederate Armies. Known as the OR, it is the ultimate source for generations of scholars and writers and ordinary citizens researching the war. By delving into the archive, Sternhell reveals its power to shape myths, hide truths, perpetuate rancor, and foster reconciliation. Far more than a storehouse of papers, the Civil War archive is a major historical actor in its own right.

Yael A. Sternhell is an associate professor of history and American Studies at Tel Aviv University, specializing in the history of the long Civil War era. Sternhell, who also authored Routes of War: The World of Movement in the Confederate South, is a regular contributor on U.S. politics to Ha’aretz and is a proud board member of the New Israel Fund, the country’s leading human rights and social justice organization.

Register HERE.