Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by 2018 Grateful American™ Book Prize winner L.M. Elliott, author of “Suspect Red”:

“The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War” by Joanne B. Freeman. This vivid account of the fisticuffs — from slugfests and canings to a fatal duel — that once played out on the floor of the Capitol ably captures the tensions (often related to the issue of slavery) that pulsed through the U.S. government long before shots were fired at Fort Sumter.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.