House Divided — Ben Ames Williams

First published in 1947, this bestselling historical novel is cherished and remembered as one of the finest retellings of the Civil War saga -- America's own War and Peace. In the first hard pinch of the Civil War, five siblings of an established Confederate Virginia family learn that their father is the grandfather of Abraham Lincoln. The family's story, and the story of their descendants, is presented in this tale that includes both soldiers and civilians -- complete with their boasting, ambition, and arrogance, but also their patience, valor, and shrewdness. The grandnephew of General James Longstreet, the author brings to life one of the most extraordinary periods in history, and details war as it really is -- a disease from which, win or lose, no nation ever completely recovers.