New book about Civil War focuses on St. Louis

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

And just in time comes historian Adam Arenson’s new book “The Great Heart of the Republic: St. Louis and the Cultural Civil War.”

While Arenson is a professor at the University of Texas El Paso, he spent a year in St. Louis doing research for his book.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Maria Altman asked him why he chose to focus on St. Louis.