Photo by Lynn Garafola

Eric Foner

Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. In his teaching and scholarship, he focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and nineteenth-century America. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association. In 2006, he received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching from Columbia University. His most recent books are The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, winner of the Bancroft and Lincoln Prizes and the Pulitzer Prize for History; Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, winner of the New York Historical Society Book Prize; and The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution.

Eric Foner

Awards

Shortlisted — Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, 2016

Winner — Bancroft Prize, 2011

Winner — New York Times Notable Selection, 2012

Winner — Lincoln Prize, 2011

Winner — Pulitzer Prize, 2011

Longlisted — Cundill History Prize, 2020

Books by Eric Foner

The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery
Eric Foner
Paperback, 2012
“A masterwork [by] the preeminent historian of the Civil War era.”—Boston Globe
The Story of American Freedom
Eric Foner
Paperback, 1999
A stirring history of America focused on its animating impulse: freedom.
Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World
Eric Foner
Paperback, 2010
"Exhilarating . . . strikes a balance between the personal and the abstract."—Edward Rothstein, New York Times
Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
Eric Foner
Hardback, 2015
The dramatic story of fugitive slaves and the antislavery activists who defied the law to help them reach freedom.
Give Me Liberty!: An American History
Eric Foner
Full Sixth Edition, 1, Paperback, 2020
The leading U.S. history textbook, with a new focus on “Who is an American?”
Give Me Liberty!: An American History
Eric Foner
Full Sixth Edition, 2, Paperback, 2020
The leading U.S. history textbook, with a new focus on “Who is an American?”
The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution
Eric Foner
Paperback, 2020
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, an authoritative story of the constitutional changes that built equality into America’s foundation.
Give Me Liberty!: An American History
Eric Foner
Full Sixth Edition, Combined Volume, Paperback, 2020
The leading U.S. history textbook, with a new focus on “Who is an American?”
Give Me Liberty!: An American History
Eric Foner
Brief Sixth High School Edition, One Volume, Paperback, 2021
The most successful U.S. History textbook, available in a brief edition.
The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery
Eric Foner
E Book, 2011
“A masterwork [by] the preeminent historian of the Civil War era.”—Boston Globe