Bud Adler, popular lecturer and Civil War historian will present an adaptation of his lecture series on the Civil War at the Friday, April 16, meeting of the Lewes Historical Society. The presentation entitled "The American Civil War, 1861-1865, A Nation Torn Asunder" will begin at 7:30 p.m. at St. Peter's Episcopal Parish Hall on Mulberry Street between Second and Third Streets in Lewes.

Adler's roots are planted firmly in education having spent more than 30 years as an educator and elementary school principal in Arlington County, Virginia. For the past more than eight years he's lectured at the Southern Delaware Academy of Lifelong Learning (SDALL) where he's presented a popular series on the Civil War.

His interest in the American Civil War was somewhat by accident, he explains. "I had been participating in SDALL programs when one of the instructors became ill and was unable to lecture on the Civil War," he recounts. "They asked me to fill in for him and the rest, as they say, is history."

His views on the Civil War stem from extensive research and many trips to all the major Civil War battlefields-Antietam, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg, among others. "I plan to review the causes of the war dating back to the birth of the United States as a country. Also we'll look at some to the interesting leaders on both sides of the war, Delaware's role in the war and the Civil War's repercussions affecting the nation and especially as it affected African Americans from Reconstruction to the present."

Adler claims that his views of the Civil War may offer a few surprises and possibly even provide some humorous twists to an event that he describes as "the most calamitous war the U.S. has ever fought."

The meeting is free and the public is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served following the presentation. For more information call the Lewes Historical Society, 645-7670.

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