Succinct, with a brace of original documents following each chapter, Christopher J. Olsen'sThe American Civil Waris the ideal introduction to American history's most famous, and infamous, chapter. Covering events from 1850 and the mounting political pressures to split the Union into opposing sections, through the four years of bloodshed and waning Confederate fortunes, to Lincoln's assassination and the advent of Reconstruction,TheAmerican Civil Warcovers the entire sectional conflict and at every juncture emphasizes the decisions and circumstances, large and small, that determined the course of events.