Between Extremes

“In this groundbreaking study of Civil War politics in states loyal to the Union, Jack Furniss shows how conservative centrists led coalition governments committed to fighting the war along constitutional lines with preservation of the Union as their foremost goal. Between Extremes is an important book that reinterprets how the Union held together during its greatest challenge.” ~Frank Towers, author of The Urban South and the Coming of the Civil War

“A scintillating explanation of how, during the political turbulence of the Civil War, the American Union’s key state governors harnessed the electoral muscle of conservative centrist patriotism. Furniss’s astute examination, fresh in conception and compelling in argument, rightly casts the malleable Union party coalitions as essential to Lincoln’s purposes and national survival. Quite simply, a lasting gem of a book.” ~Richard Carwardine, author of Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power

“Between Extremes offers an engaging, original, and insightful survey of Civil War–era politics. Refuting a common depiction of deep-seated animosity between the Republican and Democratic parties and their respective voters, Furniss persuasively highlights the existence of a powerful political center that sustained, through many hard times, the attempts to save the Union and ensure its military victory in 1865.” ~Joan Waugh, author of U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth