James M. McPherson
Professor Emeritus, Princeton University, & winner of the Pulitzer Prize
One of today’s best-known American historians, Professor McPherson
has achieved that rare combination of a spectacularly successful scholarly career
and widespread popularity with the general public. He has written more than a dozen
books, primarily on the American Civil War and Reconstruction. His most famous
book, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, won the Pulitzer Prize in History
for 1989. Wrote Amy Lifson of the National Endowment for the Humanities, "McPherson's
book broke ground in combining the complexities of the war while maintaining
the narrative that made it appealing to the American public. . . . Battle Cry of
Freedom helped launch an unprecedented national renaissance of interest in the
Civil War."
His first book, The Struggle for Equality: Abolitionists and
the Negro in the Civil War and Reconstruction, won the Anisfield-Wolf Award in
Race Relations for 1965. For Causes and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil
War, won the Lincoln Prize for 1998. His most recent book is Crossroads of
Freedom: Antietam 1862.
McPherson is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus
of American History at Princeton University. He holds a B.A. from Gustavus
Adolphus College and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.
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