"This book fills a void and corrects a tendency to simplify or overlook the multiple consequences of the Civil War on higher education for the entire United States. Cohen’s choice of case studies for detailed focus is imaginative and original. His overall narrative links the case studies into a compelling portrait of the diverse range of institutions that were a part of American higher education in the mid-nineteenth century. "—John R. Thelin, University of Kentucky
" Reconstructing the Campus examines college campuses during and after the Civil War, an understudied time in the history of higher education. Cohen's important contribution to the field adds to the ongoing debate about the extent to which the Civil War was a watershed event in the history of higher education. The book is a lively and engaging read from start to finish. "—Margaret A. Nash, University of California, Riverside
"In the vast scholarship on the Civil War, Michael David Cohen reports, no one has explored its impact on higher education. Cohen's Reconstructing the Campus is thus a reconnaissance of new territory. Accordingly, it combines a broad overview with limited, deeper exploration via seven case studies, a regionally balanced set of colleges (that also includes Northern and Southern "female academies"). "—author of Colloquy
"Cohen's lively and engaging study of higher education brings into high relief the transformative nature of the Civil War and its aftermath. He aptly demonstrates how the conflict reconstructed campuses in a way that accommodated a changing culture and people who sought new opportunities for learning. "—author of Civil War Book Review
"Cohen wonderfully describes the difficulties that were experienced throughout the country during the Civil War.... His conclusion brilliantly highlights the modernising influence of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II.... [H]is very thorough and well-researched book.... is entertaining reading, for history experts and novices alike. "—author of History of Education
"Specialists in the history of US higher education will welcome this thoroughly researched, well-crafted book, which treats a subject previously undiscussed at length.... Recommended. "—author of CHOICE
"Cohen presents a fine study that asks its readers to reevaluate a period that has been largely neglected, and one that is largely responsible for today’s modern institutions. "—author of Civil War History
"
Cohen provides a rich and nuanced account of the character of higher education in the United States during a critical period."
"—Nancy Beadie, University of Washington, author of American Historical Review
"Michael David Cohen’s Reconstructing the Campus: Higher Education and the American Civil War fills a void in the historiography of American, and southern, higher education and makes a persuasive argument…a generally tightly argued, well-researched, and much needed study. "—Rod Andrew Jr., Clemson University, author of The Journal of Southern History
"By detailing the social, political, economic, geographic, and educational changed fostered by the Civil War, Cohen’s account is a vital contribution to the historiography of the Civil War and Reconstruction. "—Elizabeth Talbot, University of Southern Mississippi, author of H-Net
"Cohen’s engaging and well-researched book successfully argues that the challenges colleges faced in the Civil War and Reconstruction laid the foundation for the modern system of American higher education. Reconstructing the Campus merits close consideration by scholars of both the history of education and the Civil War era. "—Jennifer Oast, author of Journal of the Civil War Era
"Higher education adminstrators today would benefit from a close reading of this book...it would be hard to discern whether Cohen was talking about 1866 or 2014 when he writes" "—Julie A. Mujic, Sacred Heart University, author of Civil War Monitor
