Today we conclude our 2012 collaboration with the Vermont Humanities Council's statewide reading program, Vermont Reads. This morning, we take a look at the legacy of the Civil War, and the impact of war in general on Vermont and the nation.

Hear a recording of "Tenting On The Old Campground" by Walter Kittredge, a popular song during the American Civil War and a particular favorite of enlisted men in the Union Army. It was recoded by Counterpoint in the VPR Recording Studio.

As part of VPR's weeklong series, Vermont Reads Bull Run, we look at how war is written about in literature, and what we can learn about the experience and the truths of war by reading about it.

This year, Vermonters are reading two books in recognition of the American Civil War's Sesquicentennial: Paul Fleischman's Bull Run, written in 1993, and the 1895 classic The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane.  One of the main themes running through both books concerns the aftermath of battle, and the consequences for communities as well as individual soldiers.

This year, Vermonters are reading Paul Fleischman's Bull Run, a novel published in 1993, and The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, a classic tale of the Civil War first published in 1895. Both books offer detailed descriptions of life and leadership in a time of war, based on an extensive archive of personal narratives written at the time, and still available in collections today.

Bull Run marked the first major battle of the Civil War, a time before the full horror of the conflict was understood.

Next week in Brattleboro, Yale Professor of History David Blight will focus a spotlight on what he says is an aspect of the fight for modern Civil Rights too often left in the dark: the connection to the American Civil War.