April 1865, which saw the end of this nation's most deadly conflict, the US Civil War, may have been the most momentous month in US history, with the fall of Richmond, Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. Yet that war was ended in a way that neither led to further serious secession movements nor produced a rash of post-war killings. Not only does Dr. Jay Winik's forthcoming book, “April 1865: The Month that Saved America” bring to life the characters of Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis, it draws important lessons from the termination of that war that might be transferable to other countries that, today, might face the scourge of civil wars.

Jay Winik — author, historian, and teacher — has had a distinguished government career, including advising two Secretaries of Defense, and helping create the landmark UN Perm 5 Plan for ending the Cambodian Civil War. In addition to serving as Executive Director of the nation's first blue-ribbon Base Closure Commission, he has held senior research positions at RAND and other prestigious non-government organizations. A frequent lecturer and radio and TV commentator, he has regularly published in Foreign Policy and The Washington Quarterly, as well as in many of the nation's top newspapers. He has been awarded degrees from the London School of Economics and Yale.