The Civil War was waged in 10,000 places--from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma, Tennessee, to St. Albans, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida coast. More than three million Americans fought in it and more than 600,000 men died in it. Not only the immensity of the cataclysm but the new weapons, the new standards together with the birth of photography--were to make the Civil War an event present ever since in the American conciousness. A wealth of documentary illustrations and a narrative alive with original and energetic scholarship combine to present both the grand sweep of events and the minutest of human details. This book includes four essays from prominent Civil War historians. The Civil War is both the story of great battles and great generals and a portrait of the American people--individuals and families, northerners and southerners, soldiers and civilians, slaves and slaveowners, rich and poor, urban and rural--caught up in the turbulence of the times. 425 pages, hardcover. Includes an 18 inch by 22 inch framable map. |
