While the full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ individuals would be a cornerstone of our new community, we would embrace and advocate for the fullest inclusion of all God's people into our church and our society, be they be people of color, immigrants, impoverished, physically or intellectually challenged, or marginalized in any way.

It may seem odd to call a book "riveting," but that's what this is, a riveting account of the disputes over memory in Charleston, SC. Disclaimer: I'm interested in the subject. But the authors have done an excellent job making their case about the way Lost Cause nostalgia has warped the way we tell stories of the past. They bring the history right up to the present day, with the murders in Mother Emanuel, the decision to remove the Confederate flag from the state capitol and continuing controversy over the Calhoun statue. To get a deeper sense of the monuments debate, this is an essential read. ( )

Of the countless books covering the Civil War and slavery, many of which I've read, I don't know of a single one that so perfectly shows us the humanity - and inhumanity - of it all from a southern perspective.

This book is exceptionally well researched and well written. It's not at all 'text book dry', but instead comes alive with the sights and sounds of the south.

The focus is on one city, Charleston, South Carolina, which is essentially where it all began. This narrow focus manages to encompass the crux of the war; before, during, and after. Here we see how and why the US came away with two opposing views of what caused this war, what we were fighting for and about, and what it all means to us today.

I was born and raised in the Northeast, at the time when Black Americans were fighting for equality and desegregation in the south. As a young child, I didn't know racism was "a thing". I had no idea that the black family at the table beside us at a restaurant would not have those same rights in a southern town. I couldn't fathom such a world as a child, and I had no reason to imagine it. During my early teens, as we learned about the Civil War, we were taught, without question, that it was about slavery. Then, I moved to the south, and suddenly I see rebel flags and my children were being taught that the Civil War was about States' rights, not slavery. (In my mind, the two issues are essentially the same thing, with the southern states wanting the right to own slaves, but what do I know?) That was my first exposure to the opposing views, and I didn't understand it at all. This book captures it perfectly, from beginning to end, showing the struggle from both the white and black perspectives, so that I now understand the division in ways I never had before.

This country is fractured. This book gives us tremendous insight into where the fracture began and why it persists.

*The publisher provided me with a review copy, via Amazon Vine.* ( )