In 2012, the city of Austin erected an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Willie Nelson in the heart of the business district. Schoolchildren, churchgoers, tourists, slackers, conventioneers, tech geeks - everybody, it seems - now congregate around this ponytailed shrine to outlaw country.

The myth-making about Appomattox started from the moment Lee left the courthouse on his horse to travel to Richmond.

President Abraham Lincoln never lost his ardor for the United States to remain united during the Civil War.

Douglas Brinkley Quotes