In 2012, the United States commemorated the Civil War sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. At the time, I was working at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Needless to say, the sesquicentennial was a notable moment for our national history, and for the museum. Despite this, I never learned to properly spell “sesquicentennial,” but I did receive a grant to return to Atlanta to further study General William T. Sherman’s impact on modern Southern culture. For this reason, or because of my previous work with Joel Chandler Harris’ historic home, The Wren’s Nest, and Harris’ friendship with Henry Grady, or perhaps because I was born and raised in Atlanta, I was drawn to Dr. E. Culpepper “Cully” Clark’s latest book, The Birth of a New South: Sherman, Grady, and the Making of Atlanta.