The American Civil War

Adam I. P. Smith

• Publisher: Red Globe Press
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN:
  9780333790540
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780230213524
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

The American Civil War was by far the bloodiest conflict in American history. Arising out of a political crisis over the expansion of slavery, the war set the stage for the emergence of the modern American nation-state. This new interpretation of one of the most mythologized events in modern history combines narrative with analysis and an up-to-date assessment of the state of Civil War scholarship.

The American Civil War:
- Emphasizes the importance of Northern public opinion in shaping the meaning and outcome of the crisis
- Argues that the war exposed deep social and political divisions within, as well as between, North and South
- Explores the experiences of ordinary soldiers and civilians, and the political and cultural context in which they lived
- Sets this distinctively American crisis over slavery and nationhood in the wider context of the nineteenth-century world

Concise and authoritative, this is an indispensable introduction to a critical period in modern American history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Maps
• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Slavery and the American Republic
• 2 Political Crisis and the Resort to War
• 3 The Failure of Limited War, 1861–1862
• 4 Emancipation and Hard War, 1862–1864
• 5 Citizen Soldiers
• 6 The Ordeal of the Confederate Republic
• 7 The Last Best Hope of Earth: The War for the Union
• 8 The Magic Word, “Freedom”
• Notes
• Guide to Further Reading
• Chronology of Key Events
• Index