What caused the rift between North and South? What were the worldviews in conflict that led to this bloody conflagration? What role did slavery play in the process? What happened in the various fields of battle, and who were the heroes who emerged from the fog of war? And what is the legacy of Reconstruction -- both good and bad? John Dwyer's personal study into the dusty records from the past answers these and a host of other questions, providing keen insights into this 19th-century conflict that has important parallels to specific challenges our nation faces today. Few events in America's history have been as influential -- or as complicated -- as the bloody war between our southern and northern states. Yet Dwyer deftly cuts through the "politically correct" and revisionist confusion to present clear lessons from America's uncivil war. To set the conflict in context, Dwyer has compiled numerous source documents on the development of social and religious ideas that preceded secession and war, excerpts of which are featured in sidebars throughout the book. The key battles and military campaigns are described in detail as well, depicting how they affected soldiers and civilians alike. And the changes to American society, attitudes, and new trends in Constitutional legislation that followed the war are also carefully explained in this groundbreaking work. Featuring research and articles from George Grant, J. Steven Wilkins, Douglas Wilson, and Tom Spencer, this beautifully-designed, 700-page hardback resource also showcases the paintings of John Paul Strain, and includes nearly 500 photographs, maps, and charts, as well as dozens of biographies of politicians, theologians, writers, soldiers, inventors, spies, nurses, and journalists. - Publisher. Was it really a civil war? Textbooks, popular history books, and documentary films, among others, have established that myth in the collective consciousness of the American people. Yet the war of 1861-1865 was no more a war to overthrow the U.S. government than the American War of Independence was a fight to topple King George and Parliament. - Back cover.