One of Newsweek's 40 Must-Read Fiction and Nonfiction Books to Savor this Spring!

"Megan Kate Nelson has made an invaluable contribution to broadening our understanding of the Civil War in her riveting new book... [It] is also a timely reminder that the Civil War in the Southwest was not just an interesting tidbit in the history of the American West -- it was part and parcel of the confederate objective of creating an 'empire of slavery' that expanded to the west... The book should be read not only by Civil War buffs and students of the American West, but by anyone who wishes to gain a deeper appreciation of American history that goes beyond the traditional lens. It is a masterful synthesis of military and social history in one of the overlooked chapters of the American Civil War."
—LA Review of Books

“Based on extensive archival research, Nelson’s work expands our understanding of how the Civil War affected Indigenous peoples and helped to shape the nation. Readers interested in the Civil War and Western history will enjoy this nuanced portrait of the era.”
—Library Journal, starred

“Brisk and well-sourced… Nelson effectively blends military history with a fresh look at a region typically obscured in accounts of the Civil War. American history buffs will relish this entertaining and eye-opening portrait.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[A] useful survey for readers interested in the Civil War in its short-lived southwestern theater.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Both engaging and unsparing… [Nelson] balances the stories of individuals from all four groups with deft discussion of the big-picture issues… The result is a gripping history that integrates the Southwest into broader histories of American expansion.”
—Booklist

"Nelson's book sheds light on New Mexico's importance during the war."
—Albuquerque Journal, review

"Subtly argued and richly documented."
—Civil War Times

"A terrific read... this is a very good telling of a story that is unknown to most Americans."
—The Reconstruction Era, blog review

“[A] useful survey for readers interested in the Civil War in its short-lived southwestern theater.”
—Kirkus Reviews

"Of the several "western theaters" in the Civil War that stretched 1800 miles from Knoxville to Tucson, the events and significance of the once farthest west is least known or understood. Union forces in New Mexico and Arizona repulsed a Confederate attempt to conquer this region and subdued the Navajos and Apaches in a successful effort to "reconstruct" the region into the United States. Megan Kate Nelson's beautifully written account tells this important story."
—James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

"In the 1860s New Mexico and the greater West experienced many civil wars. With lucid storytelling, using nine remarkable characters, Nelson reveals a chaotic, desperate struggle of Union against Confederate, Native peoples against other Native peoples, and Natives on both sides. This is the Civil War most Americans do not know and Nelson convinces us once again that the great conflict was about slavery and the winning the West with its land and resources. Rarely is a Civil War book so readable and so new to our understanding."
—David W. Blight, author of the Pulitzer-prize winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

"A gripping tale of the Civil War in the West. Exploring the interaction of a fascinating cast of characters during a time of immense change, Nelson reveals an all too human struggle for territorial control. Shifting perspective between nine key characters — men, women, soldiers, and Native Americans — The Three-Cornered War brings this battle between peoples, armies, agendas, and the environment to living breathing life."
—Joanne B. Freeman, author of The Field of Blood and editor of Alexander Hamilton: Writings

"Far from the Civil War's famous battlefields, a handful of individuals decided the fate of a vast landscape. In The Three-Cornered War, Megan Kate Nelson vividly portrays a complex struggle between peoples and armies—Navajo, Apache, Confederate, and Federal—over the mountains and deserts of the Southwest. Fast-paced and suspenseful, Nelson's account shifts perspective from the Navajo leader Juanita to the civilian Louisa Canby, from the Chiricahua titan Mangas Coloradas to the Texan Bill Davidson, among many others, in a web of conflicting agendas and shared suffering. This history of invasions, battles, and forced migration shapes the United States to this day—and has never been told so well."
—T.J. Stiles, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America

"Symphonic in scale, The Three-Cornered War blends masterfully the intimate and the epic, weaving the biographies of nine individuals into a story of peoples—Apaches, Texans, New Mexicans, Confederates, Navajos, Federals—whose tragedies and triumphs resonate in the West we know today."
—James F. Brooks, author of Captives and Cousins and Mesa of Sorrows

"The 'hree-Cornered War sheds a bright light on the forgotten intersection of America's westward expansion and its cataclysmic Civil War. Full of irony, sharp character sketches and fast-paced battle scenes, Megan Kate Nelson's book should be read by anyone who wants to understand the roots of modern America -- or just wants a gripping story, powerfully told."
—Clay Risen, author of The Crowded Hour