Text first published in 1958 as part of Volume I of The Civil War, A Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote. A nice, gradually paced, accounting of the years leading up to the Civil War (especially focusing on Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis) and the first year of fighting (the election of President Lincoln in November 1860 through the Union forces taking of Fort Henry--a Confederate held fort on the Tennesse River--in February 1862). In addition to the in-depth looks at the personalities and daily difficulties Lincoln and Davis faced, plus those of the many other notable figures (largely composed of high ranking officers on both sides of the fight), I also enjoyed especially the parts dealing with the political situations back in Washington, D.C., and the Confederate capitals of Mobile, Alabama, and, later, Richmond, Virginia, the attempts made by the Confederacy to elicit official recognition by European powers (which nearly led to war between the North and Britain over of the "Trent affair"), and the engagements which involved the North's much superior naval powers and river "ironclad" gun-boats. Lots of really nice pictures and graphics (maps, engravings, etc.) from the period in this "40th Anniversary Edition" printing from Time-Life Books. Chapter titles: (1) Secession: Davis and Lincoln; (2) Sumter; Early Maneuvers; (3) Statistics North and South; (4) Manassas--Southern Triumph; (5) Anderson, Frémont, McClellon; (6) Scott's Anaconda: The Navy; (7) Diplomacy; The Build-up; (8) The West: Grant, Fort Henry. (Finished reading 5/24/09) ( )