Publisher's Synopsis
Americas Civil War, was a cataclysmic event for a country less than 100 years old. The reasons for war are deep-seated, and the discussion that preceded it was often elegant and persuasive, but the war of words would eventually spin out of control and the shooting war would begin. As the South saws its power and influence begin to slip away, into the hands of the brash and upstart North, its way of life and its entire economy seemed to be at risk. Yet the risk was greater still; it threatened to tear a fragile Union apart that had been created from a diversity of states, in terms of both their history and their culture. Here the roots of the conflict are examined from the political situation before the war to the decision made to wage war on fellow citizens. The Civil War would prove to be the ultimate test for the soldiers who fought and for their country.
