I am using this volume for the first time this semester in my course on the
Civil War and reconstruction (along with McPherson's *Ordeal by Fire*, a
volume of Lincoln's speeches, and Linderman's *Embattled Courage*). Although
the course is not over yet, I think I can safely say that *Free At Last* is
a wonderfully effective volume: gripping reading and a great "teaching tool"
for some of the big issues raised by the war. I would therefore recommend it
to colleagues and others interested in the Civil War era as a multifaceted
portrait of aspects of the war, as experienced by African Americans and those
who observed them closely, not well covered in other volumes.
In addition to "plugging" the book, I am curious to know whether any others
on the list are using it too, or have used it already in their courses. I'm
particularly interested in hearing about novel ways to "exploit" its riches
in the classroom. I simply had my students spend about two weeks reading and
discussing the whole book, and after that required a short paper using a
selection of documents (their choice) as sources. I think this worked pretty
well, but I'll probably do it somewhat differently next time. Any ideas?
Doug Deal
History, SUNY-Oswego