The Strange and Tragic Wounds of George Cole's America : A Tale of Manhood, Sex, and Ambition in the Civil War Era

A gripping tale of determination, betrayal, and the struggle for dignity amid societal and personal chaos. In The Strange and Tragic Wounds of George Cole's America, historian Michael deGruccio offers a gripping tale of ambition, self-making, and tragedy set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and its aftermath.George Cole was a once-hopeful Union soldier whose dreams of heroism and societal recognition unraveled in the chaos of war and personal betrayal at home.Haunted by the war's brutalities, Cole struggled to reclaim his dignity in a post-war nation that, in his mind, had forsaken the most deserving. When he returned home to upstate New York after the war, Cole discovered that his wife had been seduced-or had been raped-by their family attorney.At first glance, Cole's story is straightforward: he murders their attorney, is tried (twice), and is acquitted.But in deGruccio's telling, the murder, like a flash of lightning, illuminates a vast landscape in striking detail.By