The war is fully under way and the rebels are outnumbered and outgunned. The outcome depends upon whether they can acquire allies in Europe. A decisive Confederate victory might induce British support, but English mills have enough cotton for the present. European aid does not materialize. The South is on its own, but Lee's military success in the East prolongs the war. U.S. Grant emerges in the West and moves to take Vicksburg, as Volume 2 comes to a close.

This book drags on for hundreds of pages, but then so did the war. A clear and readable account of the war to 1863. Huge bibliography and lots of maps.

Volume 1: The Coming Fury
Volume 2: Terrible Swift Sword
Volume 3: Never Call Retreat

This is a comprehensive overview of the American Civil War, written by a man with a gorgeous prose style who did his research. I don't agree with him everywhere---he's far more enamored of Robert E. Lee than I am, and he hasn't entirely let go of the idea that the American Civil War had a shred of romance in it, although for the most part he is very good on the terrible cost of the war on both sides---but I love his writing and I love the control he has over his material: he goes back and forth from theater to theater, and from North to South, and I don't think I was ever confused. He does a great job with Mr. Lincoln's progress from "I will never interfere with slavery in states where it is already established" through the Emancipation Proclamation to "no, really, all men are created equal, how about that Thirteenth Amendment?" tracing the change step by step. This is a military and political history written in the 60s, so it's almost all about the viewpoints of white men (he quotes Mary Boykin Chesnut a couple of times, Frederick Douglass I think once), but you know how the train is going to roll when you buy your ticket.

Given that it's sixty years old and concomitantly dated, I do think this is a good place to start if you want to know more about the American Civil War.

The author who provides the very best history of the tumultuous years of the American Civil War.

This second volume of Catton’s Civil War centennial trilogy covers about fifteen months in 1861-62, from the aftermath of First Bull Run through Antietam, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the sacking of McClellan. It’s a first-rate historical narrative. Sixty years after publication, I doubt even a writer as gifted as Catton could get away with emphasizing how much McClellan and many of his staff officers hated their political superiors and how they would have preferred a compromise end to the war that would have left slavery in place.

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

I really enjoy "good historical writing". This is a really top series of three volumes on the Civil War. It provides the broad sweep of a very complex and intricate conflict. This is the second volume finished and now beginning the third and final book. Catton has been a masterful story teller as all first rate historians are. As I proceed through the series I find my understanding of the forces at work behind this cataclysmic event in American history clarifies with each passing page. The personalities of the major players rises from the page in stark relief, and with the exception of so few, most Confederate military men, most are condemned as prideful butchers of astonishing ineptitude. The books provide the framework within which to place the more detailed accounts of these battles, the most horrific ever experienced prior to WW1 as the age of industrial warfare dawns. Bravo! It is such a great pleasure to read well researched history and learn with no pain! Catton earned every cent he made off this effort, a great piece of work.

Bruce Catton’s volume 2 centennial Civil War history book “Terrible Swift Sword” was published by Doubleday & Company in 1963. The book covers the Civil War battles in Missouri, the affairs of Kansas Jayhawkers, and battles at Wilson Creek, Pea Ride and many other General Halleck western front engagements . Catton’s research also covers initiatives and challenges faced by General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. The book ends with the demise of McClellan’s leadership, and the turning point of the Civil War after the battle of Antietam and its shattering death carnage. Catton’s explanations of war economics, international politics, and the underpinnings of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 are exceptional. The stage is now set for the last book of the centennial trilogy “Never Call Retreat.” (P)

BW

Phil Sheridan is not as well known as Grant and Shermand but he destroyed the Confederate breadbasket in the Shenandoah Valley and helped compell Lee's surrender at Apppmattox.

I have several of Mr. Catton's books. I am sure these are in every Civil War library.

This second book in Bruce Catton's groundbreaking "Centennial History of the Civil War" was published in 1962 but is just as relevant a work for Civil War studies now as it was during the conflict's centennial. Catton's ability to provide context to his superbly crafted narrative helps solidify the connections and concepts he is illuminating. For example, while providing a great overview of the Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg depending upon where you're from), Catton not only is sure to describe where the bloodletting is taking place in physical terms (landmarks, directions, etc.), but where it fits in chronologically and strategically. While it is common knowledge Antietam's outcome resulted in ending General Lee's Maryland Campaign which set conditions for President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, it is not always obvious the Battle of Perryville in the Confederacy's Kentucky Campaign was the "right hook" accompanying General Lee's "left hook" into Maryland. Had either the Maryland or Kentucky Campaigns met with more success, the Emancipation Proclamation would have surely been delayed and hope for foreign intervention on the Confederacy's behalf would have been kindled anew. Instead, the proclamation brought the war's true moral significance to the forefront and altered how foreign powers like Great Britain and event Americans of all stripes viewed the conflict. Catton's ability to weave all of this together in a succinct, clear, and most importantly captivating narrative truly sets him apart from other historians and justifies his appellation as one of America's greatest narrative historians. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the American Civil War, civil wars in general, 19th Century warfare, American military history, or American history.