"Anyone interested in Texas and the republic to which it belongs should set some weeks aside for this big, smart porcupine of a book" -- Patrick G. Williams,
Southwestern Historical Quarterly "Deftly coordinated, gracefully composed, charitably argued and suspensefully paid out, McPherson's book is just the compass of the tumultuous middle years of the 19th century it was intended to be, and as narrative history it is surpassing. Bright with details and fresh quotations, solid with carefully-arrived-at conclusions, it must surely be, of the 50,000 books written on the Civil War, the finest compression of that national paroxysm ever fitted between two covers."--
Los Angeles Times Book Review"Immediately takes its place as the best one-volume history of the coming of the American Civil War and the war itself. It is a superb narrative history, elegantly written."--
Philadelphia Inquirer"Matchless....The book's political and economic discussions are as engrossing as the descriptions of military campaigns and personalities."--
Library Journal"McPherson cements his reputation as one of the finest Civil War historians....Should become a standard general history of the Civil War period--it's one that will stand up for years to come."--
Kirkus Reviews"Robust, glittering history."--
Booklist"The best one-volume treatment of [the Civil War era] I have ever come across. It may actually be the best ever published....I was swept away, feeling as if I had never heard the saga before....Omitting nothing important, whether military, political, or economic, he yet manages to make everything he touches drive the narrative forward. This is historical writing of the highest order."--Hugh Brogan,
New York Times Book Review"The finest single volume on the war and its background."--
The Washington Post Book World"There is no finer one-volume history of the Civil War than Jim's book. I certainly will adopt it again when I teach my Honors course next time. The students found the book well organized and instructive in the way events were presented."--George Rolleston, Baldwin-Wallace College
