Written for the Yale Chronicles of America series, this short history sets itself two questions: why was there a war, and why did the Lincoln government succeed? Stephenson traces the sectional split and the politics of evasion, secession, the first campaigns, and the slow growth of a little-regarded President-elect into the leader of the embattled North.
A compact, readable account of Lincoln as a wartime politician, good for readers new to the period. Download the free EPUB.