Books by Paul A. Cimbala

The Northern Home Front during the Civil War provides the first extensive treatment of the northern home front mobilizing for war in two decades. It collates a vast and growing scholarship on the many aspects of a citizenship organizing for and against war. The text focuses attention on the roles of women, blacks, immigrants, and other individuals who typically fall outside of scrutiny in studies of American war-making society, and provides new information on subjects such as raising money for war, civil liberties in wartime, the role of returning soldiers in society, religion, relief work, popular culture, and building support for the cause of the Union and freedom.Organized topically, the book covers the geographic breadth of the diverse northern home fronts during the Civil War. The chapters supply self-contained studies of specific aspects of life, work, relief, home life, religion, and political affairs, to name only a few. This clearly written and immensely readable book reveals the key moments and gradual developments over time that influenced northerners' understanding of, participation in, and reactions to the costs and promise of a great civil war.

Based largely on Civil War veterans' own words, this book documents how many of these men survived the extraordinary horrors and hardships of war with surprising resilience and went on to become productive members of their communities in their post-war lives.

Union Soldiers and the Northern Home Front: Wartime Experiences, Postwar Adjustments explores the North's Civil War in ways that brings fresh perspectives to our knowledge of the way soldiers and civilians interacted in the Civil War North.

In wartime politics, why and how did soldiers continue to participate in the electoral process and what did they think about their politicians?Relying on his primary research on such topics as invalid soldiers and postwar experiences, Cimbala presents a vivid picture of the Civil War soldier's life.

These original essays bring fresh perspectives to our understanding of the impact of the Civil War on daily life in the northern states. From family, race, religion, and popular culture to political organization and party ideology, the essays chronicle the many dimensions of the "uncommon time" of the North's Civil War.

Collectively, they reveal the direction and dynamics of American reform over two centuries. Emphasizing social reform over civic reform, the book gives special attention to reformers and reforms that have significantly altered the social order.

Against the Tide is a collection of in-depth biographical essays on the most important women reformers in American history. This reader will be useful in any history course that deals with the important contributions made by women to the development of our government and society from the early republic to today.