Includes bibliographical references (pages 455-499) and index.

Introduction -- The great unfinished task remaining before us -- When this cruel peace is over -- Restoration, 1865-1866 -- Reconstruction at last, 1865-1867 -- Bottom rail on top, 1867 -- The critical year : 1868 -- Two failed peace policies -- Conquered provinces -- Passage to India? -- On every putrid spot -- Georgia on their minds, 1870-1871 -- Corruption is the fashion -- Clasping hands over the bloody chasm -- Dead Sea fruits, 1872-1874 -- Redeemer nation -- Last full measure of defection.

"For a generation, scholarship on the Reconstruction era has rightly focused on the struggles of the recently enslaved for a meaningful freedom and defined its success or failure largely in those terms. Summers goes beyond this vitally important question, focusing on Reconstruction's need to form an enduring Union without sacrificing the framework of federalism and republican democracy. This book offers a fresh explanation for Reconstruction's demise and a case for its essential successes as well as its great failures. Indeed, this book demonstrates the extent to which the victors' aims in 1865 were met--and at what cost." —publisher.