The 1860 Election Became A Referendum On

Early Youth Is A Baffling Time

Between 1861 And 1865, Americans Made War On Each Other And Killed Each Other In Great Numbers - If Only To Become The Kind Of Country That Could No Longer Conceive Of How That Was Possible.

Even The Most Painstaking History Is A Bridge Across An Eternal Mystery.

Here Was The Greatest And Most Moving Chapter In American History, A Blending Of Meanness And Greatness, An Ending And A Beginning. It Came Out Of What Men Were, But It Did Not Go As Men Had Planned.

There Is A Rowdy Strain In American Life, Living Close To The Surface But Running Very Deep. Like An Ape Behind A Mask, It Can Display Itself Suddenly With Terrifying Effect.