This is the tragic story of the North and South as they begin their long, heartbreaking march to Civil War. Using the early lives and careers of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as theme and framework, these brilliant historians recreate this complex period of American history. The growth and development of both Lincoln and Davis is given, in parallel form, showing the moral and intellectual forces that shaped the two figures that became the war leaders in the next decade. The clash of opinions led to the clash of armies and in this incisive, psychological portrait of two idealists, America's story, in the decades before the Civil War, is told in engaging and eloquent prose. Book jacket.

"In this, the first dual biography of the two leaders, Bruce Chadwick argues that one of several reasons why the North won and the South lost can be found in the drastically different characters of the two presidents. The electric and flexible personality of Lincoln enabled him to build coalitions among warring political factions and become one of the strongest and most successful presidents in U.S. history. The inability of the uncompromising Davis to do the same contributed to the South's losing the war." "This is the first comprehensive study to compare the two leaders, and to reach firm conclusions about the war that transformed the United States from a slave empire into a model of democracy for the world. Many books have been written about both Lincoln and Davis. However, by contrasting the lives and presidencies of both men, the author provides a fascinating new perspective of the two leaders during the most volatile period in American history."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Sounding Forth the Trumpet brings to life one of the most crucial epochs in America's history--the events leading up to and precipitating the Civil War. In this enlightening book, readers live through the Gold Rush, the Mexican War, the skirmishes of Bleeding Kansas, and the emergence of Abraham Lincoln, as well as the tragic issue of slavery.

A detailed history of one week during the Civil War in which the American president assumed control of the nation’s military. One rainy evening in May, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln boarded the revenue cutter Miami and sailed to Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia. There, for the first and only time in our country’s history, a sitting president assumed direct control of armed forces to launch a military campaign. In Lincoln Takes Command, author Steve Norderdetails this exciting, little-known week in Civil War history. Lincoln recognized the strategic possibilities offered by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s ongoing Peninsula Campaign and the importance of seizing Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard. For five days, the president spent time on sea and land, studied maps, spoke with military leaders, suggested actions, and issued direct orders to subordinate commanders. He helped set in motion many events, including the naval bombardment of a Confederate fort, the sailing of Union ships up the James River toward the enemy capital, an amphibious landing of Union soldiers followed by an overland march that expedited the capture of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the navy yard, and the destruction of the Rebel ironclad CSS Virginia. The president returned to Washington in triumph, with some urging him to assume direct command of the nation’s field armies. The week discussed in Lincoln Takes Command has never been as heavily researched or told in such fine detail. The successes that crowned Lincoln’s short time in Hampton Roads offered him a better understanding of, and more confidence in, his ability to see what needed to be accomplished. This insight helped sustain him through the rest of the war.

“Egerton tells the story of the dissolution of the Union as it should be told, not from the perspective of those looking back on the crisis, but from the clouded vision of those who lived through it.” -Carol Berkin, author of A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution and Civil War Wives In early 1860, pundits across America confidently predicted the election of Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas in the coming presidential race. Douglas, after all, was a national figure, a renowned orator, and led the only party that bridged North and South. But his Democrats fractured over the issue of slavery, creating a splintered four-way race that opened the door for the upstart Republicans, exclusively Northern, to steal the Oval Office. Dark horse Abraham Lincoln-not the first choice even of his own party-won the presidency with a record-low share of the popular vote. His victory instantly triggered the secession crisis. With a historian's keen insight and a veteran political reporter's eye for detail, Douglas R. Egerton re-creates the cascade of unforeseen events that confounded political bosses, set North and South on the road to disunion, and put not Stephen Douglas but his greatest rival in the White House. Year of Meteors delivers a vibrant cast of characters-from the gifted, flawed Douglas to the Southern “fire-eaters,” who gleefully sabotaged their own party, to the untested Abraham Lincoln-and a breakneck narrative of this most momentous year in American history.

The story of Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln is the story of the United States, and without either of their lives and influence we would not be the nation we are today. They were born within 9 months and 100 miles of each other in Kentucky log cabins. Their parallel lives from that point forward were eerily similar in spite of Davis remaining a life-long Southerner and Lincoln moving to and settling in Illinois. Each man had cold, emotionally distant fathers, both lost their first loves to disease within one month of each other, married strong Southern women much younger than themselves, and lost young sons while Presidents of the Union and the Confederacy. Both men were ambitious and drawn to the world of politics where Davis, an ardent slaveholder and state rights leader and Lincoln, seeking to limit and eradicate slavery, worked tirelessly to avoid Civil War up to the moment of Southern secession. Finally, Lincoln and Davis were each considered martyrs after leading their nations through the conclusion of the Civil War. This is their compelling story, including comparing the stark political events of their era to those being replayed across todays America. For more information about the book and/or the author please visit www.lincolnanddavis.com.

The story of the men who build the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's.