Mark the end of the Civil War at Iowa City library

This April marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. After four years of war with more than 620,000 Americans dead, the ship, according to Walt Whitman, was finally 'anchor'd safe and sound.”

But there was a great deal of work to do to begin healing a nation fragmented and strained in many different ways. To help you explore the Civil War, check out some of these new books from the Iowa City Public Library.

Interested in the economic impact? To gain an understanding of how crucial slavery was to boosting the economic growth of the United States and how difficult it was to disentangle the country from it, take a look at Edward Baptist's 'The Half Has Never Been Told.” Although it covers the pre-Civil War era, Baptist argues that slavery made America a very rich nation from the plantations of the South to the textile mills of the North.

With more than 3 million serving in the war, another issue facing the nation was the large number of soldiers returning home. Brian Matthew Jordan's 'Marching Home” discusses the psychological toll the war had on Union veterans and the problems they confronted reintegrating into society. Jordan uses the letters, diaries, essays, and medical reports of veterans to show that soldiers faced severe injuries, alcoholism, mental illness and small pensions.

Two new books provide firsthand accounts of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. 'Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination” by Thomas Bogar tells the story of the stage hands and actors who witnessed the assassination and the beginning hours of the investigation. 'President Lincoln Assassinated” uses 80 historical documents to tell the story of the assassination, manhunt and trial, as well as the nation's response to these events.

Want more?

Check out the streaming video site to find interesting Civil War programs held in 2013 to honor the 150th anniversary. Programs include 'Women in the Civil War” and 'Making Art Out of Mass Death.” Through these great programs, as well as our history books, documentaries, and films, find yourself immersed in the Civil War.

' Anne Mangano is collection services coordinator at the Iowa City Public Library.