"[A] splendidly lucid, elegantly crafted, and exciting narrative"--New York Newsday. "His sweeping survey ably demonstrates how the growing tension between North and South reached 'the political point of no return'"--Publishers Weekly. "A skillfull narrative about a pivotal year...featuring the author's usual judicious analysis"--Kirkus Reviews. From the Mormon rebellion to the Dred Scott decision to open warfare in Kansas to the Panic of 1857, it was a year when the troubled nation finally spun out of control. This fast-paced account by an eminent historian draws all the dramatic details together in a brilliant account of the forces tearing apart the Union.

"Exceptionally good reading."--Reviews in American History

One of the most scholarly and provocative books written in this much worked-over period. - Avery O. Craven, Saturday Review ""A documented, scholarly investigation of the growth of war fever in the North prior to the Civil War. The author discusses the disunionists both Northern and Southern, the party men who played politics, the businessmen who foresaw the loss of Southern markets, and those men who sincerely believed the Union must be preserved."" - Booklist ""It is well organised and well written, but most of all it presents an accurate picture of the welter of northern sentiments from which emerged the will to war in 1861."" - Journal of Southern History ""The author displays unusually keen analytical abilities. He writes with clarity and verve."" - Bell I. Wiley, Mississippi Valley Historical Review