The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe

This book is super-engaging and reads quickly--my copy only had 300 pages, the last 50 being references/notes/index. I finished it in 3 days, so I would recommend it to anybody looking for a fast-paced nonfiction.
My Transcendentalism-loving heart enjoyed this book due to the fact that Julia and her husband were very much on the fringes of Transcendentalism. Julia interacted with Louisa May Alcott (who found Julia snobby!), Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and basically all your Transcendentalist faves.
On the whole, Julia was a privileged women with a love for socializing and the finer things in life who eventually found a passion for speaking out for underprivileged groups, including women, slaves, immigrants, and more.