From the Bookshelf of NonFiction Pulitzers…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
showing 10 of 10 topics
view all »
Other topics mentioning this book
Pulitzer Predictions 2021 Edition:
By Porter · 23 posts · 14 views
By Porter · 23 posts · 14 views
last updated Jan 05, 2021 04:26AM
Porter's 2021 Pulitzer Read Challenge
By Porter · 18 posts · 27 views
By Porter · 18 posts · 27 views
last updated Sep 11, 2021 08:26AM
November - December 2024 Group Read Nominations
By Katy · 14 posts · 21 views
By Katy · 14 posts · 21 views
last updated Sep 16, 2024 06:04AM
March-April 2025 Group Read: History
By Katy · 19 posts · 28 views
By Katy · 19 posts · 28 views
last updated Dec 31, 2024 08:10PM
Katy's 2025 Pulitzer Reading Challenge.
By Katy · 31 posts · 25 views
By Katy · 31 posts · 25 views
last updated Apr 28, 2025 09:16PM
What Members Thought
(Copied from a post made in the Civil War Group---entered via phone)
This book is an easy read. I've read some Pulitzer winners that are hard to read. while this was a finalist, the content and style are very digestible.
That being said, this is going to be a book that is more enjoyable than challenging.
So the highlights:
1---I lived in Colorado for over a decade. I didn't know that Breckenridge was named after the former VP/Presidential candidate
2---Really enjoyed the story about John Baylor. I've ...more
This book is an easy read. I've read some Pulitzer winners that are hard to read. while this was a finalist, the content and style are very digestible.
That being said, this is going to be a book that is more enjoyable than challenging.
So the highlights:
1---I lived in Colorado for over a decade. I didn't know that Breckenridge was named after the former VP/Presidential candidate
2---Really enjoyed the story about John Baylor. I've ...more
4.5 stars
As the Civil War was just starting in the East, things on the Western front were heating up, too. On July 24, 1861, while the Battle of Manassas had yet to be fought, John Baylor occupied the important crossroads town of Mesilla in the New Mexico Territory. In doing so, he became the first Confederate in the Civil War to successfully occupy Union territory.
The battle of Mesilla and others that followed at Valverde, Apache Canyon, and Glorieta Pass were fought to gain control of the Wes ...more
As the Civil War was just starting in the East, things on the Western front were heating up, too. On July 24, 1861, while the Battle of Manassas had yet to be fought, John Baylor occupied the important crossroads town of Mesilla in the New Mexico Territory. In doing so, he became the first Confederate in the Civil War to successfully occupy Union territory.
The battle of Mesilla and others that followed at Valverde, Apache Canyon, and Glorieta Pass were fought to gain control of the Wes ...more
Mar 06, 2025
Katy
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2025_pulitzers_nonfiction
Well researched and plenty to keep the reader interested. I learned several things about the war in the west.
A recounting of the efforts of both the Union and Confederacy to take control of and settle the Southwest during (and shortly after) the Civil War. I had never realized that there was a southwest front during the Civil War, but it makes perfect sense that the Confederacy would have had its own Manifest Destiny vision.
The author focuses on 9 main characters - an Army wife, a Union colonel, a gold miner, a frontiersman, a Navajo woman, an Apache war chief, a surveyor, a rancher, and a lawyer - an ...more
The author focuses on 9 main characters - an Army wife, a Union colonel, a gold miner, a frontiersman, a Navajo woman, an Apache war chief, a surveyor, a rancher, and a lawyer - an ...more
An insightful, well written history, which filled a void in my historical knowledge that I hadn’t even been aware of. Nelson does a good job juggling an ensemble of characters, on all three sides of the conflict. The characters are shaded with some complexity, which might have made them a touch more difficult to tell apart, but also made it a considerably more interesting book. She also did well connecting the events of this arena with the War back east, that most of us are already so familiar w
...more
This is a very readable history of the Southwest during and immediately following the Civil War. I have read a few other histories of these events. All of them deal with the North vs the South or the Union Army vs the Apache or Navaho. This books does both. Normally I find such books overreach. I was impressed that Ms. Nelson put everything into a single book and show the historical perspective of the time. The detail in the book is sufficient for the type and length of the book, but if you want
...more
Very scholarly work. Extremely well researched. It gives the reader a better understanding of the way Americans (both North and South) violated the West for their own benefit. The South had little opportunity to see their way through during the War, but the Union's attitudes about Native Americans during that period, and the need for expansion at the Indian's expense, was brutal. It is a sad story and one that would take volumes of writing to fully understand. I disagree with the idea that is su
...more
A Pulitzer Prize finalist for History in 2021, The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West vividly recounts the conflicts in the southwestern territory during the Civil War. Author Megan Kate Nelson successfully analyzes the importance of gaining control of New Mexican territory in the western theatre of the war. Possession of this land would open travel to California, a destination rich in gold. Who would gain the upper hand? The Confederacy,
...more
Jan 14, 2020
Carl
marked it as to-read
Aug 14, 2020
Douglass Gaking
marked it as shelved
Feb 22, 2021
Sean
marked it as to-read
Apr 27, 2021
Steve Knudsen
added it
Jun 11, 2021
Jerome
marked it as to-read
Aug 17, 2021
Melissa
marked it as to-read
Sep 19, 2021
Eileen
marked it as to-read
Jun 26, 2022
Jessalyn
marked it as to-read
Jul 05, 2022
Ryann
marked it as to-read
Apr 18, 2024
Kim Baxter
marked it as to-read
Aug 18, 2024
Amanda
marked it as to-read
Jan 08, 2025
Carol
marked it as to-read
Feb 11, 2025
Megan
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2025
Kevin Keating
marked it as to-read
