In Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848–1877,
Brenda Wineapple provides a sweeping narrative of the mid-19th-century United
States. She explores the period from the end of the Mexican-American War
through the Civil War and the eventual collapse of Reconstruction.
Rather than focusing solely on military maneuvers, Wineapple centers the
"soul" of the country, examining how Americans defined themselves
during a time of radical transformation and intense division.