Description: The first biography of one of the Civil War's most famous disabled veterans and most prominent public figures in the Gilded Age. An examination of the dynamics of disability, the culture and politics of the Gilded Age, and the aftereffects of the Civil War.
Brief description: JAMES MARTEN is professor of history at Marquette University. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of several books, including America's Corporal: James Tanner in War and Peace (Georgia); Sing Not War: The Lives of Union and Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America; Civil War America: Voices from the Home Front; and The Children's Civil War.
Review Quotes: Drawing on a variety of primary sources, Marten, who is chair of the history department at Marquette University, brings Tanner's life and character into focus and shows what it meant to be a veteran in an era that at first worshipped the saviors of the Union but then found ambiguity in their political power and insistence on collecting ever-larger pensions.-- "Columns"