Two prominent publications praised the latest book by IRD President Mark Tooley in recent reviews. Tooley’s new work, The Peace That Almost Was, recounts the Washington Peace Conference in February 1861 that made a final desperate effort to avert the Civil War.
Robert Morrison, a former official in the Reagan administration and senior fellow at the Family Research Council (FRC), reviewed the book in The American Spectator on November 30. He said Tooley revealed “innumerable ironies and historical gems” in his “highly readable work.” He described The Peace That Almost Was “as a possession for all time,” comparing it to Thucydides’ ageless masterwork the Peloponnesian War.
“Tooley’s narrative nails down at all four corners the hardy perennial myth that the Civil War was fought over economic issues or States Rights, or any issue other than slavery,” Morrison said.
The Weekly Standard Assistant Editor David Bahr also reviewed Tooley’s book in glowing terms. Bahr said Tooley offered “a splendid treatment in this meticulously researched account of the last, best attempt to prevent the disunion of a nation less than a century old.”
Bahr’s review, currently available online, is slated for publication in the print edition of The Weekly Standard on December 7.
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