When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1863, he reportedly greeted her as "the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War." To this day, Uncle Tom's Cabin serves as a touchstone for the war. Yet few works have been selected to represent the Civil War's literature, even though historians have filled libraries with books on the war itself.

This volume helps teachers address the following questions: What is the relation of canonical works to the multitude of occasional texts that were penned in response to the Civil War, and how can students understand...

When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1863, he reportedly greeted her as "the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War." To this day, Uncle Tom's Cabin serves as a touchstone for the war. Yet few works have been selected to represent the Civil War's literature, even though historians have filled libraries with books on the war itself.

This volume helps teachers address the following questions: What is the relation of canonical works to the multitude of occasional texts that were penned in response to the Civil War, and how can students understand...