The Civil War and Reconstruction Eras: Documents Decoded. By John R. Vile. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017. 295 pages. Acid-free. $64.80 (ISBN 978-1-4408-5428-6). E-book available (978-1-4408-5429-3), call for pricing.

Making his fourth contribution to the Documents Decoded series, John R. Vile provides critical commentary for more than sixty documents from the era. The organization is chronological, starting in 1859 and extending to 1877. Source documents are typically brief—averaging one to five pages, with a few longer texts such as the 1861 Constitution of the Confederate States. Designed with the needs of “high school students, college students, and general citizens in mind,” (xiv) each text includes an introduction of about a paragraph providing historical context, and a brief conclusion summarizing the significance of the document. A distinguishing feature of this collection is the reader-friendly approach. The print design is clean and uncluttered with copious white space. The annotations are provided alongside the relevant text, which is clearly highlighted. Placing the commentary side by side with the text makes it easy to go back and forth between the document and the added insights. Consistent with the intended general audience, the editorial additions are not dense scholarly treatments. Rather, they define unfamiliar historical language and elaborate on the meanings of specific sections. There is a list of further readings at the end of the volume; however, no recommendations accompany individual documents.

The selection of texts reflects the interests and expertise of the author, a political scientist and self-described “student of American constitutional law” (xiv). There is a decided emphasis on political and legal topics and government documents including laws, congressional speeches, presidential proclamations, and court decisions. There are no images and little to be found on popular culture (excepting the texts of “Dixie” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic”). No attempt is made to capture the everyday experiences of the time, either on the home front or the battlefield. While familiar figures such as Abraham Lincoln appear frequently, the voices of everyday people from the time—women, African Americans, immigrants, and laborers are largely absent. Legal decisions and laws are certainly important to understanding the era, but compared to other accounts from the time period, they can be dry and unemotional. Readers looking for narratives beyond the political are advised to consult works such as the Library of America’s series The Civil War as Told by Those Who Lived It (Library of America, 2011–2014) or Voices of Civil War America: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life (Greenwood, 2011). It is fascinating to dip into the array of documents assembled and general readers interested in the political and legal aspects of the era will find much of interest. The addition of further reading lists for each source document would have been an especially valuable addition supporting high school and college students seeking to explore further.—Eric Novotny, Humanities Librarian, Pennsylvania State University, University Park