James G. Mendez is Associate Dean of Student Affairs and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.James G. Mendez is Associate Dean of Student Affairs and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

In this deeply researched and revealing book, James G. Mendez seeks to recover the experience of northern black soldiers and their families during the Civil War era in order to discover the ways they engaged the governments of their day both to recognize and respect their service and sacrifice during the war and to count the costs northern blacks paid out in impoverished families, wartime casualties, and unfulfilled promises... Mendez’s book deserves our attention and appreciation.

Liz Regosin, Charles A. Dana Professor of History, St. Lawrence University:
A Great Sacrifice offers readers new insight into the lives of African American men and women from the North in the era of the Civil War. It will make an important contribution to the literature on the Civil War in general, as well as to the literature on African Americans in the Civil War era and on the northern home front.

Author James G. Mendez... has allowed his readers an enlightening ear to the voices of black families left at home during the Civil War. They are an essential part of the northern homefront and deserve this attention. A Great Sacrifice goes a long way toward this effort.