The War that Forged a Nation

Mark Twain once observed of the Civil War that it had "uprooted institutions that were centuries old, changed the politics of a people, transformed the social life of half the country, and wrought so profoundly upon the entire national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or three generations." Six generations have now passed since it took place, and Americans are still struggling to measure its influence. In The War That Forged the Nation, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson considers why the Civil War remains so deeply and firmly embedded within our national consciousness. The drama and tragedy of the war, from its scope and size -- an estimated death toll of 750,000, not including civilians -- to the nearly mythical individuals involved -- Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Frederick Douglass, Clara Barton, Stonewall Jackson among them -- help to explain why the war commands and indeed compels our attention. But the legacy of the war extends far beyond historical interest or scholarly scrutiny. To show why the Civil War still matters, McPherson draws upon his work and thought over the past 56 years, beginning when he was a graduate student and discovering the connection between the Civil War and civil rights. From that revelation grew the certainty that to understand the issues of our own day -- racial inequality, political gridlock, regional conflict, Red States and Blue States, questions of state sovereignty, and the sometimes violent disagreement about the role of government in social change -- we need look no further than the Civil War. Thoughtful, provocative, and authoritative, The War That Forged a Nation looks anew at the reasons America's Civil War has provoked intense interest for the past century and a half, and affirms the enduring relevance of the struggle that nearly destroyed this country and most certainly continues to define it. - Jacket flap.