Between 2011 and 2015, the opinion section of the New York Times marked the sesquicentennial of the Civil War by tracking events on their anniversaries via a blog with original content--and now its editors have issued a collection, Disunion: A History of the Civil War.

In a 15-minute conversation with The Bookmonger (we had so much fun, we went long!), co-editor Clay Risen describes how the project came together and why it relied so much on amateur experts, plus he describes the most surprising thing he learned about the conflict (it involves coffee). He also makes a case for why conservatives should read the op-ed page of the New York Times.