“A must-read for those who enjoy the hidden stories behind American history. Ms. Singer has captured a tumultuous family history as she traces the life and trials of William Andrew Winder, the only Union man in an otherwise Confederate family.”

—Laurie Verge, director of the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, Maryland

“Jane Singer is a passionate storyteller and indefatigable researcher. In William A. Winder’s compelling saga, she has met a subject worthy of her talents. It’s a rattling good tale of shame and redemption, a metaphor, as the author demonstrates, for the ‘recovery and reinvention of a fractured nation and her people’ at the time of the Civil War. It’s great to see Singer in action again!”

—Richard Willing, intelligence officer and historian

“A movie mogul once opined that there are thousands of stories from the Civil War that are worthy of a book or movie. Jane Singer identifies one in The War Criminal’s Son. . . . Captain William A. Winder led a long, peripatetic life, splendidly told here. The author confronts us with the excitement and detritus that filled his days. . . . This is a great read.”

—Frank J. Williams, founding chair of the Lincoln Forum and president of the Ulysses S. Grant Association and Presidential Library