The American War: A History of the Civil War Era

"Easily the best one-volume assessment of the Civil War to date." - William C. Davis

In The American War, renowned historians Gary W. Gallagher and Joan Waugh provide a fresh examination of the Civil War, its aftermath, and enduring memory in a masterful work that prize-winning historian William C. Davis calls, "easily the best one-volume assessment of the Civil War to date."

By investigating this crucial period through the eyes of civilians, celebrated leaders, and citizen soldiers, readers interested in the Civil War era will gain a profound understanding of the dramatic events, personalities, and social and economic processes that caused the war, enabled the Union to prevail, and forever transformed the United States. It also will help readers understand why, more than 150 years after Appomattox, it remains impossible to grasp the larger sweep of U.S. history without coming to terms with the American War.

Praise for The American War: A History of the Civil War Era:

"The authors have written a succinct yet detailed and eloquent history of the conflict that preserved and reshaped the nation in ways that continue to affect us today." - James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom

"It is hard to see how any one brief volume could better deal with this vast subject. Gallagher and Waugh know all there is to know about the Civil War and manage to convey that knowledge with balanced judgment, engaging quotations, up-to-date scholarship, and humane insight." - Edward L. Ayers, author of In the Presence of Mine Enemies: Civil War in the Heart of America

"Readers will find therein exactly what one might expect from a book authored by the prolific historians Gary Gallagher and Joan Waugh: a well-written and comprehensive synthesis of the war and its aftermath." - Christopher Childers, Civil War Book Review