The Fantastic Civil War — Frank McSherry

THE GREATEST OF ALL AMERICAN WARS

The Civil War, in which more American soldiers died than in all our other wars combined, was the primary turning point of American history. Slavery died in the War; less happily, the loose-jointed Federalism envisioned by the Framers died too, along with the classic America of Tom Sawyer and the Currier & Ives print. But not just America was defined by her Civil War. The future of Western Civilization itself would have been changed beyond all calculation had the South won--and it was a close-run thing. The Confederate experiment very nearly did succeed.

From the day the guns fell silent writers North and South have mused on what would have happened had Southern valor prevailed...