A History of the Civil War, 1861-1865

Summary

Rhodes condenses decades of his own scholarship into a single volume tracing the military and political course of the American Civil War from secession to surrender. He weighs the leadership of Lincoln, the strategy of the generals, and the social forces that drove the conflict, favoring clear narrative over heavy citation. The work brought a respected historian's mature judgment to a general readership and helped fix the war's story for early twentieth century Americans.