Succinct, with a brace of original documents following each chapter, Christopher J. Olsen's "The American Civil War "is 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, "The" "American Civil War "covers the entire sectional conflict and at every juncture emphasizes the decisions and circumstances, large and small, that determined the course of events.

Political Culture and Secession in Mississippi examines gender and antebellum politics, and argues that the demands of masculinity and honour within states' antiparty political culture made secession possible. The non-institutional context of all political rhetoric caused Mississippi voters to condemn the Republicans' anti-Southern program as a personal insult, and linked men's understanding of masculinity with electoral politics, the actual mechanism for secession.

Political Culture and Secession in Mississippi examines gender and antebellum politics, and argues that the demands of masculinity and honour with in state's antiparty political culture made secession possible. The non-institutional context of all political rhetoric caused Mississippi voters to condemn the Republicans' anti-Southern programme as a personal insult, and linked men's understanding of masculinity with electoral politics, the actual mechanism for secession.