Book excerpt: The Greenback Era is not a financial history; rather, it is an attempt to locate the source of political power in the crucial Reconstruction years through a socio-economic study of American financial conflict during the years 1865 to 1879. Originally published in 1964. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.