The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian "e;ranges informally but authoritatively"e; across Civil War-related topics in a thought-provoking essay collection (The New York Times). Based on a lecture series delivered at Wesleyan University, these essays come from Bruce Catton, a New York Times bestselling and National Book Award winning author acclaimed as "e;one of America's foremost Civil War authorities"e; (Kirkus Reviews). In them, he delves more deeply into the subject of the war and its meaning for America addressing such issues as the psychology of the citizen soldier; the presidential career of Ulysses S. Grant; and what happens to civil liberties in wartime. He explores how the war compelled the nation to confront questions about race and democracy, and places the conflict in a wider context, identifying it as the world's first truly modern war. "e;Nothing in our time makes the Civil War as alive as the writings of Bruce Catton."e; The Baltimore Sun