Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-251) and index.

Slavery and the coming of the war. And the war came ; Escape and revolt in black and white -- The lost cause revisited. The Confederacy : a house divided? ; Was the best defense a good offense? : Jefferson Davis and Confederate strategies ; The Saratoga that wasn't : the impact of Antietam abroad ; To conquer a peace? : Lee's goals in the Gettysburg campaign ; The last rebel : Jesse James ; Long-legged Yankee lies : the lost cause textbook crusade -- Architects of victory. "We stand by each other always" : Grant and Sherman ; The hard hand of war : Unvexed to the sea : Lincoln, Grant, and the Vicksburg campaign -- Home front and battle front. Brahmins at war ; "Spend much time in reading the daily papers" : the press and army morale in the Civil War ; No peace without victory, 1861-1865 -- Lincoln. To remember that he had lived ; "As commander-in-chief I have the right to take any measure which may best subdue the enemy.