The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Luce and His Empire examines in detail the events that exploded into the Civil War, under the eyes of festive picknickers who lined Charleston's shore to cheer the rebel gunners shelling the hated fort and its Federal defenders. First Blood is historical writing at its finest.

Chronicles the events leading up to the firing of the first shot of the Civil War on April 12, 1861.

In her diary, Mary Boykin Chesnut, the wife of a Confederate general and aid to president Jefferson Davis, James Chestnut, Jr., presents an eyewitness account of the Civil War.

A dramatic account of the two-week period in 1861 during which newly inaugurated president Lincoln attempted to prepare Union states for a possible Confederate attack draws on the period's headlines, intelligence reports, diaries, and letters to offer insight into the experiences of everyday citizens. Reprint.

"Jack was indeed a most unusual cat. His story will lead young readers back to a time when America was at war with itself. It was a time when all people were not treated as equal, and the question of whether the United States would stand as one nation had not been decided ... Beautiful color illustrations bring the story of life with historical accuracy, and children of all ages will delight in learning history through the eyes of Jack."--book jacket flyleaf.

Contextualizing the events before and after the battle, The Battle of Fort Sumter provides the ideal supplement to any course on the American Civil War, American history, or American military history.

Looks at the attack on Fort Sumter, discussing the divison between the north and the south, the soldiers who defended Fort Sumter, and the impact on the history of America.

"When the Civil War began, Fort Sumter was an unfinished building in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Over the next three years, this fort would become one of the most important symbols of the Civil War. Now open to the public as a national monument, visitors arrive at the fort by boat from Charleston. Walk over several acres and see many Civil War guns and cannonballs. National Park Service rangers are also on the island to give talks and demonstrations to bring the Civil War and other important facts of American history to life."--Back cover.

Lincoln’s First Crisis concerns five of the most consequential months in American history: December 1860 through April 1861. When Abraham Lincoln swore his oath as president, the United States was disintegrating. Seven states had seceded, and as many as eight seemed poised to join them, depending upon how the new president handled the secession crisis and its flashpoint: Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the heart of the rebellion. The fate of the republic hung in the balance. The Sumter crisis has been hotly debated and deeply researched for more than 150 years. In this thoughtful reassessment, William Bruce Johnson combines thorough research and the latest historiography with a litigator’s methodical analysis and a storyteller’s eye for meaningful detail. Shortly after taking office, Lincoln decided upon a plan to avoid war with the seceded states while keeping his inaugural promise to maintain a Union military presence in the South. Because he chose not to reveal his plan to anyone, rumors soon spread that he was simply afraid to act. One source of such rumors was Lincoln’s secretary of state, William Henry Seward. Resentful that Lincoln had deprived him of the Republican nomination and convinced that Lincoln lacked the political sophistication necessary to deal with the secession crisis, Seward decided to negotiate with the Confederacy on his own and in secret. General Winfield Scott, meanwhile, the Union’s most senior military officer, had for a decade depended upon Seward for political advice, and now considered himself under orders from Seward, not the president. Johnson traces how Seward and Scott sabotaged Lincoln’s plan. From this account, from his examination of various personalities (such as that of Fort Sumter’s commander, Major Robert Anderson), and from his granular research into aspects of the Order of Battle in Charleston, Johnson has here constructed a new narrative of this crucial period, culminating in a new theory of how and why the Civil War began as it did, and how and why, if the new president’s orders had been properly carried out by Seward and Scott, it might have been averted.