Description
A re-creation of the eight weeks preceding the American Civil War vividly describes such events as Lincoln's inauguration, the attack at Fort Sumter, and Lincoln's call-to-arms proclamation, in an account that also considers if the conflict could have been peaceably avoided. By the author of Richmond Burning. Reprint.
Read More
A "compact, engrossing narrative"* that vividly reimagines the events that led to the outbreak of the Civil WarWhat separates historian Nelson D. Lankford's engaging examination of the causes of the Civil War from other books on the subject is its willingness to consider the alternative possibilities to history.Cry Havoc! recounts in riveting detail the small quirks of timing, character, and place that influenced the huge trajectory of events during eight critical weeks from Lincoln's inauguration through the explosion at Fort Sumter and the embattled president's response to it. It addresses the what-ifs, the might-have-beens, and the individual personalities that played into circumstances-a chain of indecisions and miscalculations, influenced by swollen vanity and wishful thinking-that gave shape to the dreadful conflict to come.
Read Less