Description: The psychological aftereffects of war are not just a modern-day plight. Following the Civil War, numerous soldiers returned with damaged bodies or damaged minds. Drawing on archival materials including digitized records for more than 70,000 white and African-American Union army recruits, newspaper reports, and census returns, Larry M. Logue and Peter Blanck uncover the diversity and severity of Civil War veterans' psychological distress. Their findings concerning the recognition of veterans' post-traumatic stress disorders, treatment programs, and suicide rates will inform current studies on how to effectively cope with this enduring disability in former soldiers. This compelling book brings to light the continued sacrifices of men who went to war.
Brief description: Peter Blanck is University Professor at Syracuse University, New York and chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute. Blanck received a Juris Doctorate from Stanford University, California, where he was President of the Stanford Law Review, and a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University, Massachusetts. His recent books include Routledge Handbook of Disability Law and Human Rights (2016), co-edited with Eilionoir Flynn, and e-Quality: The Struggle for Web Accessibility by Persons with Cognitive Disabilities (Cambridge, 2016).
Review Quotes: 'This genuinely interdisciplinary work offers the exciting potential opportunity for further research into veteran communities which integrates History, Law, Disability Studies, Medicine, and Policy.' Michael Robinson, War in History