In colorful, readable prose, this volume provides a full history of the Civil War-including John Brown's raid; the story of the Confederate States of America; the battles of Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg; Sherman's March to the Sea; the Emancipation Proclamation; the Thirteenth Amendment; Lincoln's assassination; Reconstruction; and Andrew Johnson's impeachment.But more importantly, it offers a range of essays on how events could have turned out differently-militarily, politically, and culturally. It challenges students and general readers alike to remember that the course of history is not preordained. Instead, history is and "made and " in critical moments of decision by those who choose one course of action over another. Their choices-and the outcomes of those choices-could easily have been different.