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More than one hundred and fifty years after the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, the Civil War still captures the American imagination, and its reverberations can still be felt throughout America's social and political landscape. Louis P. Masur's The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction offers a masterful and eminently readable overview of the war's multiple causes and catastrophic effects. Masur begins by examining the
complex origins of the war, focusing on the pulsating tensions over states rights and slavery. The book then proceeds to cover, year by year, the major political, social, and military events, highlighting two
important themes: how the war shifted from a limited conflict to restore the Union to an all-out war that would fundamentally transform Southern society, and the process by which the war ultimately became a battle to abolish slavery. Masur explains how the war turned what had been a loose collection of fiercely independent states into a nation, remaking its political, cultural, and social institutions. But he also focuses on the soldiers themselves, both Union and Confederate, whose stories
constitute nothing less than America's Iliad. In the final chapter Masur considers the aftermath of the South's surrender at Appomattox and the clash over the policies of reconstruction that continued to
divide President and Congress, conservatives and radicals, Southerners and Northerners for years to come. In 1873, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley wrote that the war had "wrought so profoundly upon the entire national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or three generations." This concise history of the entire Civil War era offers an invaluable introduction to the dramatic events whose effects are still felt today.
More than one hundred and fifty years after the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, the Civil War still captures the American imagination, and its reverberations can still be felt throughout America's social and political landscape. Louis P. Masur's The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction offers a masterful and eminently readable overview of the war's multiple causes and catastrophic effects. Masur begins by examining the
complex origins of the war, focusing on the pulsating tensions over states rights and slavery. The book then proceeds to cover, year by year, the major political, social, and military events, highlighting two
important themes: how the war shifted from a limited conflict to restore the Union to an all-out war that would fundamentally transform Southern society, and the process by which the war ultimately became a battle to abolish slavery. Masur explains how the war turned what had been a loose collection of fiercely independent states into a nation, remaking its political, cultural, and social institutions. But he also focuses on the soldiers themselves, both Union and Confederate, whose stories
constitute nothing less than America's Iliad. In the final chapter Masur considers the aftermath of the South's surrender at Appomattox and the clash over the policies of reconstruction that continued to
divide President and Congress, conservatives and radicals, Southerners and Northerners for years to come. In 1873, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley wrote that the war had "wrought so profoundly upon the entire national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or three generations." This concise history of the entire Civil War era offers an invaluable introduction to the dramatic events whose effects are still felt today.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Ch 1: The Origins of the Civil War
Ch 2: 1861
Ch 3: 1862
Ch 4: 1863
Ch 5: 1864
Ch6: 1865 and After the War
Epilogue
References
Further Reading
Index
Louis P. Masur is Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University. His many books include Lincoln's Last Speech: Wartime Reconstruction and the Crisis of Reunion (OUP, 2015), Lincoln's Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union, and "the real war will never get in the books": Selections from Writers during the Civil War (OUP, 1993).
"Masur's pocket-sized chronological account of the Civil War packs
a powerful punch It is hard to overstate this accomplishment, as so
many have tried before and failed." --H-Net
"A short history of the Civil War is a daunting task to say the
least, so complex and wide-ranging is the story, yet Louis P. Masur
has accomplished the task not only with remarkable
all-inclusiveness, but with considerable perception, and not a
little genuine eloquence. The result is surely the finest account
in brief compass that we have." -- William C. Davis, Virginia
Center for Civil War Studies, Virginia Tech
"Louis P. Masur has done a splendid job of explaining why the Civil
War came, how it unfolded, and what Union victory meant. His
ability to bring clarity to such a complex subject in so few pages
makes this a wonderful place for anyone to begin an exploration of
the most important period in American history."-Gary W. Gallagher,
author of The Confederate War
"A succinct, highly readable account, Masur's book conveys both the
drama and the complexity of America's greatest moral and political
crisis."- Jacqueline Jones, author of Saving Savannah: The City and
the Civil War
"Louis Masur's history of the Civil War is extraordinarily deft and
balanced, featuring a judicious choice of primary source
quotations."-Elizabeth Varon, University of Virginia
"In this concise history of the Civil War, Louis Masur makes good
on his promise 'to explain what happened, how it transpired, and
what it all meant.' A great deal happened in that war, and it meant
more than any other event in American history. Masur covers all the
important points of this dramatic story with a deft pen that
carries the reader through those crowded years with remarkable
clarity and understanding."-James M. McPherson, author of Battle
Cry
of Freedom
"For the reader uneasy with any study more than general-interest,
this book is the first one that the anticipating librarian should
place in such a person's hands. It is an immaculate overview that
quickly gets to the heart of the matter, precisely surveying, with
keen insight, the slippery slope to war's outbreak, which was paved
with increasingly bitter opposing views on slavery and states'
rights and territorial expansion; along the way, the concept of
nullification added its own coat of slipperiness." -Booklist,
Starred Review
"An ideal guide. Masur's deft touch is reflected in the judicious
way he mines his material, which includes analysis for the set of
illustrations included in the text. One finishes this book, whether
read over the course of hours or months, with a sense of having
traced the outlines of a vast historiographic territory." --History
News Network
"Masur performs a miracle by providing a concise but compelling
narrative of the Civil War era, packing in the critical information
to track the trajectory of secession, war, emancipation, and
Reconstruction...Highly recommended." --Library Journal
"Fresh and amazingly brief." --Salon
"If you want to cut to the chase, this is the volume for you."
-Forbes.com
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