Megan Kate Nelson is a writer and historian living in Lincoln, Massachusetts. She has written about the Civil War, US western history, and American culture for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, and Smithsonian Magazine. Nelson earned her BA in history and literature from Harvard University and her PhD in American studies from the University of Iowa. She is the author of Saving Yellowstone, The Three-Cornered War, Ruin Nation, and Trembling Earth.
One of Newsweek's 40 Must-Read Fiction and Nonfiction Books to
Savor this Spring! "There were so many provocative ideas and
convincing arguments that it is hard to focus on just one. In The
Three-Cornered War, Nelson accomplishes the rare feat of providing
a new perspective on the Civil War that transforms the overall
orientation. Written in an accessible way, I hope it forces
historians and general readers alike to rethink the place of the
"West" during the Civil War and beyond."
--Civil War Monitor "This volume fills a critical gap in the study
of the American Civil War, narrating that it truly was a
continental war with potential repercussions far beyond the
Washington-Richmond corridor or the Mississippi River valley."
--New York Journal of Books "A dramatic, riveting, and deeply
researched narrative account of the epic struggle for the West
during the Civil War, revealing a little-known, vastly important
episode in American history."
--BookAuthority "Nelson's book sheds light on New Mexico's
importance during the war."
--Albuquerque Journal, review "Nelson's smooth narrative style
brings the characters to life and makes the story easily accessible
for casual readers, while her intensive research should please
serious history buffs."
--HistoryNet "In The Three-Cornered War, Nelson combines meticulous
research in military records, letters and diaries, oral histories,
and photographs with novel-like prose to tell the story of the
American Civil War through the experiences of nine individuals. As
Nelson shows how each of these individuals shaped and were shaped
by the Civil War in the continental southwest, the result is a
history of the American Civil War truly continental in its scope
yet deeply individual in its impact."
--New Books Network Podcast "Subtly argued and richly
documented."
--Civil War Times "A terrific read... this is a very good telling
of a story that is unknown to most Americans."
--The Reconstruction Era, blog review "Based on extensive archival
research, Nelson's work expands our understanding of how the Civil
War affected Indigenous peoples and helped to shape the nation.
Readers interested in the Civil War and Western history will enjoy
this nuanced portrait of the era."
--Library Journal, starred "Brisk and well-sourced... Nelson
effectively blends military history with a fresh look at a region
typically obscured in accounts of the Civil War. American history
buffs will relish this entertaining and eye-opening portrait."
--Publishers Weekly "[A] useful survey for readers interested in
the Civil War in its short-lived southwestern theater."
--Kirkus Reviews "Both engaging and unsparing... [Nelson] balances
the stories of individuals from all four groups with deft
discussion of the big-picture issues... The result is a gripping
history that integrates the Southwest into broader histories of
American expansion."
--Booklist
"Of the several "western theaters" in the Civil War that stretched
1800 miles from Knoxville to Tucson, the events and significance of
the once farthest west is least known or understood. Union forces
in New Mexico and Arizona repulsed a Confederate attempt to conquer
this region and subdued the Navajos and Apaches in a successful
effort to "reconstruct" the region into the United States. Megan
Kate Nelson's beautifully written account tells this important
story."
--James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil
War Era "In the 1860s New Mexico and the greater West experienced
many civil wars. With lucid storytelling, using nine remarkable
characters, Nelson reveals a chaotic, desperate struggle of Union
against Confederate, Native peoples against other Native peoples,
and Natives on both sides. This is the Civil War most Americans do
not know and Nelson convinces us once again that the great conflict
was about slavery and the winning the West with its land and
resources. Rarely is a Civil War book so readable and so new to our
understanding."
--David W. Blight, author of the Pulitzer-prize winning Frederick
Douglass: Prophet of Freedom "A gripping tale of the Civil War in
the West. Exploring the interaction of a fascinating cast of
characters during a time of immense change, Nelson reveals an all
too human struggle for territorial control. Shifting perspective
between nine key characters -- men, women, soldiers, and Native
Americans -- The Three-Cornered War brings this battle between
peoples, armies, agendas, and the environment to living breathing
life."
--Joanne B. Freeman, author of The Field of Blood and editor of
Alexander Hamilton: Writings "Far from the Civil War's famous
battlefields, a handful of individuals decided the fate of a vast
landscape. In The Three-Cornered War, Megan Kate Nelson vividly
portrays a complex struggle between peoples and armies--Navajo,
Apache, Confederate, and Federal--over the mountains and deserts of
the Southwest. Fast-paced and suspenseful, Nelson's account shifts
perspective from the Navajo leader Juanita to the civilian Louisa
Canby, from the Chiricahua titan Mangas Coloradas to the Texan Bill
Davidson, among many others, in a web of conflicting agendas and
shared suffering. This history of invasions, battles, and forced
migration shapes the United States to this day--and has never been
told so well."
--T.J. Stiles, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Custer's
Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America "Symphonic in
scale, The Three-Cornered War blends masterfully the intimate and
the epic, weaving the biographies of nine individuals into a story
of peoples--Apaches, Texans, New Mexicans, Confederates, Navajos,
Federals--whose tragedies and triumphs resonate in the West we know
today."
--James F. Brooks, author of Captives and Cousins and Mesa of
Sorrows "The Three-Cornered War sheds a bright light on the
forgotten intersection of America's westward expansion and its
cataclysmic Civil War. Full of irony, sharp character sketches and
fast-paced battle scenes, Megan Kate Nelson's book should be read
by anyone who wants to understand the roots of modern America -- or
just wants a gripping story, powerfully told."
--Clay Risen, author of The Crowded Hour
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