Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union

WINNER OF THE 2026 GILDER LEHRMAN LINCOLN PRIZE • The first major account of the American Civil War to give full weight to the central role played by religion, reframing the conflict through Abraham Lincoln’s contentious appeals to faith-based nationalism

How did slavery figure in God’s plan? Was it the providential role of government to abolish this sin and build a righteous nation? Or did such a mission amount to “religious tyranny” and “pulpit politics,” in an effort to strip the southern...