This was very interesting and very well written, classic Catton. It describes the lead-up to the Civil War from around 1859 to the First Battle of Bull Run in detail, while remaining entertaining and engaging. The part of the book dealing with the events of January-April 1860 and the lead up to Fort Sumter were particularly interesting to me.

Charming, level-headed presentation of the lead-up to the war. Not quite as resonant as Shelby Foote's seminal books, but maybe a little more buoyant and readable, certainly as informative, with subtle textures of humor and irreverence. Highly recommended.

Eminently readable as Civil War histories go, the last chapter felt a bit unnecessary as it got into the battle of Bull Run. The political machinations were very interesting, and a part of the war that isn’t as well covered. It was hard to read much of the early chapters without seeing how history so often rhymes, many of the quotes are things you can hear politicians say today.

You can tell Bruce Catton knows what he is talking about in this intensely well researched book. It covers the year or so leading up to the war and the battle of Bull run. I found the pages on Ft. Sumter the most engrossing as there were many details that I hadn’t read before. Catton makes use of many primary sources and letters throughout his work and lets the men and women of history speak for themselves when the option is available to him. A great history. Can’t wait to read the next volume.

This is a book that has been on my family's bookshelf for as long as I can recall. Since I've committed to reading more nonfiction, I decided to check this one out. I knew it would be a daunting task. It's nonfiction, and it is not small. (Come to find out, it's also 1 of 3 books!) That being said, I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it.

I read it for about 15-30 minutes at a time. It would take me a little while to get into it each time I sat down to read it, but once I did, I found I didn't want to stop.

For a nonfiction book, it is a flowery read. By that I mean, there is a LOT of useless information added in. I can appreciate that the author was trying to paint a picture; however, there are details missing that could have added more to the visual and depth of the narrative. It is a book about the Civil War and the events and catalysts that lead to it. But, for the main catalyst being the topic of slavery, there is very little from the viewpoint of the slave or the black soldier. Instead, we are spoon-fed the point of view of politicians that had their hands in the situation, the press that helped fuel the fires, and the bumbling of Lincoln's beginnings in the White House. I am not saying that this isn't unimportant to the events that spurred the Civil War but, there was more. So much more.

That being said, it was still an interesting read. What we are taught in school in our youth barely scratches the surface. We are taught that Lincoln was a champion of the slave. Yeah well, it wasn't entirely slavery he was against, at least not in the beginning. We are taught that there were two sides to the situation when in reality, there were many sides and a whole lot of people caught in the middle that were forced to choose a side.
There were a lot of useless casualties. And a lot of misinformation, miseducation, misogyny, and misguided fools. But then again, isn't that the same for anything where politicians are involved?

In all, there was a lot to take in during the course of reading this book. To fully comprehend and understand the situation that is presented via this books telling of the story, it would take multiple reads or heavy studying of the book and events and people it represents. I will seek out the next two books to read. Just, not right away.

Bruce Catton is very easy to read. And as I am rereading it, I am finding it very enjoyable. Can't wait to visit Fort Monroe and Manassas battlefield.

This is a great introduction to the issues that led to secession in 1861. Bruce Catton starts with the Democratic Convention in 1860 in Charleston, SC and end the the First Battle of Bull Run. It is interesting to note that the division of the Democratic party occurred from the beginning of the campaign season. The Republicans had not convened and the Democrats were not able to come to a consensus about who their own presidential nominee would be. The Southerners held their own convention and nominated Breckinridge and the rest of the party met later in Baltimore and chose Stephen Douglas. As a result of this split Abraham Lincoln, the first republican president became the leader of a very divided country. South Carolina left the union first and then the rest of the cotton states followed. These states did leave the union over slavery. So anyone who tries to say that the Civil War was over States Rights is wrong. The States Rights issue comes in a few months later when the border states start choosing sides. It is interesting that the issue that the border states took up was the call to arms of troops. Drafting men into the army has been a controversial issue in American Politics for a very long time. The governors of the border states did not like being given a quota of men to turn over to the federal regulars. As so many army officers left the service to fight for rebellious states their was a need for fresh recruits.

Catton is very fair to Lincoln and Seward in this book. Lincoln had filled his cabinet with political rivals and many people did not understand why he did that. Maybe he recognized the needs of the United States during a time of great conflict and turmoil. I enjoyed this book.

Do not let the age of this book stop you from reading it. This is as good of writing on the civil war that you can get.
I always wondered what made the South take the step from talk to war. This book explains it better than anything else I have read on the subject. The politics are fascinating and once the bullets start flying . There is no turning back.
This is the first book of a 3 book series. I just finished all three and can't stop thinking about them. Bruce Catton is a heavyweight among civil war writers. His moments of observation really sets him apart and I am happy I discovered this series of books.

It has been a while since I read a Civil War book, but we come back to what we love. Bruce Catton is a good story teller, and his research is thorough. It is impossible to read the ways and emotions of the process of America falling apart and not think of current conditions. Sad.

Excellent book. I've read all three volumes now. Should have read them years ago. Highly recommended.

I think I'd have enjoyed this more three years ago when we went to Gettysburg. The research is plentiful, the tone is objective and the material is concisely presented. I just couldn't find myself being swept away with reading a tome about the causes of the civil war.

I am going to start off by saying I chose to read this for a class as an 'assigned reading'; otherwise, I might have read it eventually, but who knows when?

Second, holy cow! that was a loooooong book! I had no idea it would take me so long to read it when I started. Two weeks to read it! [which is what happens when you read a book inbetween your textbook readings for class]

I put it as five stars not because I loved it, per se. I put it at five stars because it was still an amazing book. I wondered if I would ever finish it, at times, when I read it, as it moved so slow I felt I was traveling backwards in time. However, that does not change the fact that it is a treasure trove of information. It has an incredible amount of data in it; it is amazing how much is there. It blew my mind.

The book covers the time period between April of 1860 [or thereabouts] until just after the First Battle of Bull Run. The author talks about decisions and mistakes made by all parties involved in the splitting of the Nation [there was actually more than one, believe it or not]. It seemed like, at times, that it was the smaller groups with the biggest mouths that caused the most trouble [on both sides].

What I got out of reading the book:  [not sure if these count as spoilers or not, but there you go]
[1] The author believed that slavery, as an institution, was 'on the way out' but the South refused to acknowledge this fact.
[2] Neither side was truly ready to fight a war between the States.
[3] The South had an unrealistic view of the North and how a war supporting secession would go; they believed the war would be over quickly and did not 'consider the long term' [i.e. - they had no true 'long-term plans' that went past one or two years of fighting].
[4] Neither side utilized all of the mechanisms in civil government to avoid fighting.
[5] The South had an unrealistic view of how life should be in the United States; they demanded that the Federal government and new states cater to Southern wishes/desires yet wanted to refuse to allow new states to decide their own destinies.
[6] The Civil War nearly started in Texas due to the actions of Texans in taking control of Federal forts and property and taking Federal soldiers captive. Had this happened, Robert E. Lee would have remained in the Union Army and fought on the side of the Northern States.
[7] There were some oddly comical moments that happened over the course of time prior to the start of the Civil War, such as at Fort Sumter. For instance, there were times when cannons were fired for training purposes by both Confederate and Union troops that caused unexpected damage to either side; flags of truce were raised and after the requisite apologies were made and assurances provided the damage was accidental and not purposely done, the status quo continued. It was nuts!
[8] Southerners were spoiled. They had their own reality, and then there was the reality the rest of the world inhabited.
[9] Southerners were hypocrites. They felt full freedom to hide behind the very laws they were renouncing and breaking by seceding, claiming the Federal government was violating the Constitution when the Southern states themselves had already violated the Constitution by their actions.
[10] Another way Southerners were hypocrites was how they decried the Federal government defending itself against attacks by aggressive Southerners yet justified their own aggressive, unlawful behavior against those same officials.
[11] In no way did the South take into consideration how dependent they were upon the Northern states for their continued existence; the entire Southern economy was practically totally dependent upon the Northern states whereas the Northern economy was nearly independent of the Southern states.
[12] The individual who cried loudest about 'personal liberty' and having their rights abridged were slave-owners.
[13] Many officers in the Union Army, after interacting with former slaves, could no longer see any black person as a 'slave' or as 'property'; they could only see blacks as fellow human beings.

It was a fascinating book to read, if nothing else because of the wealth of information in it. The amount of data did overload the senses and the mind, at times, and I had no problem putting the book down because of the information overload. At the same time, it was a fascinating and kept me wanting to come back for more. I almost found myself wishing it were a bit longer [heaven forbid!] so that I could learn more about what transpired. I thought I knew "something" ["quite a bit"] about this period of time. After reading this, I realize what I thought I knew was less than nothing. It was very enlightening to read this book. There was so much that was going on, and I am sure this book did cover 'everything' everything [as that is essentially impossible], but it was still a great read.

It was actually a 'better' book than I thought it would be. I am glad that I read it.