Crucial moments from Lincoln’s inauguration to the New York draft riots to Stonewall Jackson’s death—and how they changed the course of US history. This book not only selects the events that most influenced the causes and outcome of America’s Civil War, but also ranks them in order of significance. In each of the book’s detailed essays, historian Alan Axelrod presents an engaging narrative about the event, and also explains how it shaped the course of the war—and ultimately the future of the country. Examining the immediate effects of each event and what decisive role it played at the time, as well as the enduring postwar significance in terms of politics, society, and military history and technology, this book, from the author of Miracle at Belleau Wood and the Business Week bestseller Patton on Leadership, explores the violent argument between the North and South in a whole new way.
