Filled with fresh interpretations and information, puncturing old myths and challenging new ones, Battle Cry of Freedom will unquestionably become the standard one-volume history of the Civil War.James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War--the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry--and then moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson's new views on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory.The book's title refers to the sentiments that informed both the Northern and Southern views of the conflict: the South seceded in the name of that freedom of self-determination and self-government for which their fathers had fought in 1776, while the North stood fast in defense of the Union founded by those fathers as the bulwark of American liberty. Eventually, the North had to grapple with the underlying cause of the war--slavery--and adopt a policy of emancipation as a second war aim. This "new birth of freedom," as Lincoln called it, constitutes the proudest legacy of America's bloodiest conflict.This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty.

Editor's IntroductionPrologue: From the Halls of Montezuma1. The United States at Midcentury2. Mexico Will Poison3. An Empire for Slavery4. Slavery, Rum, and Romanism5. The Crime Against Kansas6. Mudsills and Greasy Mechanics for A. Lincoln7. The Revolution o f18608. The Counterrevolution9. Facing Both Ways: The Upper South's Dilemma10. Amateurs Go to War11. Farewell to the Ninety Days' War12. Blockade and Beachhead: The Salt-Water War, 1861-186213. The River War in 186214. The Sinews of War15. Billy Yank's Chickahominy Blues16. We Must Free the Slaves or Be Ourselves Subdued17. Carry Me Back to Old Virginny18. John Bull's Virginia Rell19. Three Rivers in Winter, 1862-186320. Fire in the Rear21. Long Remember: The Summer of '6322. Johnny Reb's Chattanooga Blues23. When This Cruel War is Over24. If It Takes All Summer25. After Four Years of Failure26. We Are Going to be Wiped off the Earth27. South Carolina Must Be Destroyed28. We Are All AmericansEpilogue: To the Shoals of VIctoryAfterwardAbbreviated TitlesBibliographic NoteIndex