Aaron Sheehan-Dean sa zameriava na americkú občiansku vojnu, pričom skúma jej hlboké príčiny a dôsledky. Jeho práca sa vyznačuje prenikavým pohľadom na motivácie jednotlivcov, ako aj širšie spoločenské sily, ktoré formovali toto búrlivé obdobie. Dôrazom na autentické hlasy tých, ktorí tieto udalosti zažili, približuje čitateľom surovú realitu konfliktu. Jeho súčasné edičné úsilie ďalej upevňuje jeho pozíciu popredného experta na toto kľúčové obdobie amerických dejín.
Focusing on Virginia soldiers and their families during the Civil War, the study reveals the personal experiences of rank-and-file soldiers through new statistical evidence and first-person accounts. It examines how these soldiers, including nonslaveholders, redefined their understanding of the war's purpose to maintain their commitment to the Confederate cause. The work provides a nuanced view of the social and emotional landscape of the time.
Discarding tidy abstractions about the conduct of war, Aaron Sheehan-Dean shows that the notoriously bloody US Civil War could have been much worse. Despite agonizing debates over Just War and careful differentiation among victims, Americans could not avoid living with the contradictions inherent in a conflict that was both violent and restrained.