Book Review of Bluecoats and Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians in Reconstruction North Carolina

Review of: Bluecoats and Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians in Reconstruction North Carolina . By Mark L. Bradley . ( Lexington, Ky. : University of Kentucky Press , 2009 . Pp. ix, 370 . $50.00 .)

Excerpt: Given the United States' ongoing experience in Iraq and the growing literature on occupation during the Civil War, this study is a timely arrival. It is also a welcome addition to Reconstruction historiography. Historians have always recognized the importance of the army during Reconstruction, but they relegate it to the sidelines far too often. Mark L. Bradley puts it front and center. Drawing on an impressive research base culled from archives, museums, and other repositories across the country, Bradley has produced a compelling and well-written study of the army's role in reconstructing one former Confederate state.[...]