Essential Histories Special 01, The American Civil War

Osprey Publishing Product Description:

Undoubtedly the most cataclysmic military struggle of the late nineteenth century, the American Civil War spanned four bloody years of fighting in which over 620,000 American soldiers and sailors lost their lives. From its outbreak at Fort Sumter, South Carolina in April 1861 until its conclusion at the Appotomax Court House, more than 10,000 battles, engagements and skirmishes were recorded across the length and breadth of America. This book explores the political, historical and cultural significance of the American Civil War, examining its impact on the civilians and military personnel caught up in it. This special edition combines Essential Histories 4, 5, 10 and 11, The American Civil War volumes 1-4.

From the Foreword:

"The centrality of the Civil War to American history is indisputable. At least 620.000 soldiers lost their lives from 1861 to 1865. This number constituted 2 percent of the American population. If the same percentage of Americans were to die in a war fought today, the number of war dead would be five and one-half millions. The war also wreaked havoc and destruction in the South. It wiped out two-thirds of the assessed value of Southern wealth (including slaves), destroyed more than half of the region's farm machinery, consumed two-fifths of Southern livestock, and killed one-quarter of Southern white males between the ages of 20 and 40. In 1865 the South presented a bleak landscape of desolation. Burned-out plantations, fields growing up in weeds, and railroads without tracks, bridges, or rolling stock marked the trail of conquering and defeated armies.
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How did all this happen? That is the question the four authors of this volume undertake to answer. In four sections that weave together the story of military campaigns in the Eastern and Western theaters with the impact of the war on the home front, spiced with stories of individual men and women who experienced the conflict, this book sets forth the essential history of the war. The four authors are in the top rank of Civil War historians. Their lucid prose, the clarity of the maps, and the well-selected illustrations offer a rich feast for readers, who will take-away an understanding of how and why the war came out as it did."