 Title page forReveille in Washington, 1860–1865 (1941) | |
| Author | Margaret Leech |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Harper,NYRB |
Publication date | 1941 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 524 |
Reveille in Washington, 1860–1865 is a nonfiction history book byAmerican historianMargaret Leech. It won the 1942Pulitzer Prize for History.[1][2] After being out of print for years, it was reissued byNew York Review Books in 2011 with an introduction byJames M. McPherson, author of thePulitzer Prize-winning bookBattle Cry of Freedom (1988).
Reveille in Washington focuses on the everyday politics and preoccupations ofWashington during theAmerican Civil War. From the stench of corpse-littered streets to the plunging lace onMary Todd Lincoln’s evening gowns, Leech illuminates the city and its familiar figures such asAbraham Lincoln,Jefferson Davis,Robert E. Lee,William Seward, andMary Surratt.[3]
The book was critically acclaimed.The Washington Post said that the book "remains the best single popular account of Washington during the great convulsion of the Civil War" and that it was "vividly written, with hundreds of cameo portraits, from President Lincoln to the humblest citizen."[4]The New Republic expressed that Leech "offers a smart and witty account of wartime Washington's transformation from an administrative backwater to the locus of renewed federal power" and called the book an "encyclopedic portrait" and a "first-rate chronicle of how the political elites handled the war".[5]
Reveille in Washington received thePulitzer Prize for History in 1942 and Leech became the first woman to win that prize.[1]
Published in 1941, this remains the best single popular account of Washington during the great convulsion of the Civil War. Vividly written, with hundreds of cameo portraits, from President Lincoln to the humblest citizen, the book won its author a Pulitzer Prize.
Leech, who published three novels before this work of history appeared in 1941, offers a smart and witty account of wartime Washington's transformation from an administrative backwater to the locus of renewed federal power. This encyclopedic portrait won Leech, who died in 1974, her first of two Pulitzer Prizes for history...Reveille in Washington could stand on its own as a first-rate chronicle of how the political elites handled the war.
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