A Holy Baptism of Fire and Blood

In this book, James Byrd offers a thorough analysis of how Americans, North and South, enlisted scripture to fight the Civil War. As Byrd reveals in this insightful narrative, no book was more important to the conflict than the Bible. From Massachusetts to Mississippi and beyond, the Bible was the nation's most read and respected book, and each side enlisted it in arguments over slavery, secession, patriotism, authority, white supremacy, and violence. The A Holy Baptism of Fire and Blood draws on an astonishing array of sources to demonstrate the many ways that Americans enlisted the Bible in the nation's bloodiest, and arguably most biblically-saturated conflict.