Volume one follows the early stages of the war, from Jefferson Davis's resignation from the Senate in January 1861 to the battles of Antietam and Perryville in the autumn of 1862. It examines the political manoeuvring as more and more states seceded from the Union and the seemingly inevitable spiral into bloody warfare. First published in 1958. American-cut pages.
"Here, for a certainty, is one of the great historical narratives...a unique and brilliant achievement, one that must be firmly placed in the ranks of the masters."--Van Allen Bradley,
Chicago Daily News "A stunning book full of color, life, character and a new atmosphere of the Civil War, and at the same time a narrative of unflagging power. Eloquent proof that an historian should be a writer above all else." --Burke Davis
"To read this great narrative is to love the nation--to love it through the living knowledge of its mortal division. Whitman, who ultimately knew and loved the bravery and frailty of the soldiers, observed that the real Civil War would never be written and perhaps
should not be. For me, Shelby Foote has written it.... This work was done to last forever." --James M. Cox,
Southern Review