CVU history and government teacher Tyler Alexander will be discussing his newly published book If I Can Get Home This Fall: A Story of Love, Loss, and a Cause in the Civil War. The book includes a timeless collection of elegantly written letters by a Vermont soldier (who served in the 6th VT Infantry and later became an officer in a Black regiment-the 19th US Colored Troops) to his wife throughout the course of four terribly long years. The Pulitzer-Prize winning historian James McPherson said, "These are some of the best and most moving of the thousands of Civil War letters I have encountered." These letters-and other source material from the time-tell us much about what Vermonters thought about national identity, race, and the meaning of democracy. Coupled with harrowing accounts of combat at places like Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Petersburg it’s a heart-wrenching love story of a young man and woman from northern Vermont who dreamed of a post-war life together. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the event. No registration required but email alex@carpentercarse.org with any questions.