This is a high-class book club, dedicated to topics somehow or another related to the Civil War.

We gather in a cozy environment for a group dinner, followed by a presentation on a chosen book. What is really unique is that often the speaker is a gifted and prestigious professor or writer, coming to our event to walk us through his/her book. It can be a fascinating experience.

Professor Varon gave a Tour de Force presentation on this Confederate general, who was the right-hand-man of Robert E. Lee and totally dedicated to slavery and victory by the Confederacy, who wound up with a striking “about face” after 1865 in which eventually he became a close ally (and renewed friend) of Ulysses Grant and a leader in the Louisiana Republican Party and the battle against the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1860s. How to explain the switch? Professor Varon gave a very convincing explanation of how Longstreet felt deeply moved by Grant’s conciliatory gesture at Appomattox and urged the South to accept its defeat and move forward. Eventually such an “Atonement” inspired and pragmatic position ran him into trouble with White Supremacists in New Orleans, who goaded Longstreet into taking public positions supporting the Reconstruction effort for civil rights for freed slaves. Eventually this gave rise to the scapegoating of Longstreet by advocates of the Lost Cause, who blamed his for the defeat at Gettysburg. Dr. Varon pointed out how Longstreet gave prudent advice to Lee advising against his decisions in Gettysburg and noted that Lee himself never blamed Longstreet for that defeat.

Awarding Professor Elizabeth Varon of the University of Virginia, for the William Henry Seward award given by the Forum for the best book on the Civil War chosen by the Forum’s book jury. Professor Varon gave the presentation on her award-winning book, “Longstreet: the Confederate General Who Defied the South”