<p> In these masterful essays drawn from his <i>New York Times</i> bestsellers <i>A History of the American People and Heroes</i>, one of the world's most renowned and respected historians explores what is arguably the most important chapter in the annals of America: the Civil War. Enlivened with the author's trademark scholarship, verve, and intelligence, this vivid, concise history revisits the conflict that tore a nation asunder and provides portraits of the people who played essential roles in the bloody drama. Johnson's <i>Civil War America</i> examines the factors that led to the devastating rift in the years before the fighting&#151;and recounts the troubled healing a wounded nation underwent in the years after the final shot was fired. </p>