The Florence Arts and Museums Speaker Series is a monthly program meant to inspire conversations about the history and culture of north Alabama, with a focus on how the past shapes the present. This month, Kurt Vetters will deliver his presentation, “Confederate Winter and Freedom Spring,” based upon his books by the same name, at 2pm on Sunday, December 19th, at the Florence Indian Mound Museum.

Local author Kurt Vetters will be speaking and leading a discussion about two new Civil War novels, Confederate Winter and Freedom Spring. He will discuss the books, the current state of understanding and interpretation of the American Civil War, the reclamation of the Franklin battlefield in Franklin Tennessee, and the role of historical novels in young adult curriculums and popular culture. A former US Army Cavalry officer and Civil War Reenactor, Vetters comes to the role of author with an eye to detail and a storyteller’s passion. His work reflects the late E.L. Doctorow’s quote: “The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you how it felt.”