The bloody conflict that sundered the United States from 1861 to 1865 took 620,000 lives, laid waste to large sections of the American South, and decided the future course of the nation. Its reverberations are still felt in American life. Now from the home of "The Nation's Memory" comes The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference. Drawn from the Library's unparalleled Civil War collections -- including previously unpublished letters and diaries, maps and photographs, as well as thousands of works by post-Civil War scholars and experts -- this is the ultimate one-volume reference on the Civil War.

A comprehensive yet accessible compendium, The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference is organized into chapters that address broad themes such as "Antebellum America," "Wartime Politics," "Armies," and "Reconstruction and Aftermath of the War." Each of these chapters includes more specific topics, such as "The Election of 1860," "Notable Civil War Officers," and "African Americans During Reconstruction." There are timelines that chronicle major events, brief profiles of significant people, and excerpts from key pieces of legislation and addresses that reflect the passions and politics of the times. Here readers can find, for example, detailed information on the arms used on both sides during the Civil War in the "Weaponry" chapter. And descriptions of significant battles, as well as information on casualties, military strategy and tactics, and logistical support, are to be found in the "Battles and the Battlefield" chapter. Topics ranging from economic conditions north and south of the Mason-Dixon line on the eve of the war to the history of slavery in the United States to the impact of the Civil War on literature and the fine arts give additional depth and context to the book's presentation of Civil War events.

The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference also looks beyond the major events and figures and examines the lives of the common soldiers (from their diet, training, and medical treatment to the struggles of the Union's black soldiers), the various roles women played in the war, and telling events on the home fronts. Along with the words of writers such as Walt Whitman and Herman Melville, readers will find excerpts from the journals and letters of nurses, soldiers, refugees and freedmen. A final chapter offers a guide to further study of the Civil War -- including information about major archival collections, important published resources, and national historic sites-for those who wish to learn more.

Prodigious in its scope, illustrated with more than 100 photographs and drawings and dozens of maps, The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference is sure to become the indispensable one-volume reference on the Civil War.

It does not deal with the battles in depth as do so many other volumes on this epic struggle between North and South. Nevertheless, the battles on land and water are described and accompanied by many well executed maps. Descriptions of the armies and their weaponry are treated in detail, as is the treatment of prisoners of war. There are time lines on politics, slavery, naval encounters, and reconstruction.

The chapters that are most significant, from my point of view, are those that deal with nonmilitary aspects of the war: the economic differences of the north and south, the importance of religion in the lives of Americans, a brief account of slavery in the United states, a history of the beginning and development of the rift that led to the conflict. An excellent chapter of nearly one hundred pages deals with the politics the war. A rather grim, but enlightening, chapter discusses the treatment of the wounded (many amputations), the fight to control disease, and people important in establishing policy and organizing hospitals and field teams of doctors and nurses. A part of wartime history often relegated to the sidelines is the home front. A separate chapter on this subject corrects that neglected topic. A lengthy chapter considers the reconstruction following the end of hostilities. And where else but in this considerable tome would one find not only an account of the armies and battles but also one of the civil war in literature and the arts. After wading through this book, if your curiosity is stimulated to pursue a topic in greater depth then browse the final two chapters, where you will find lists and descriptions of civil war novels, poets and poetry, music, cinema, stage plays, and television movies and documentaries -- all dealing with the civil war. Also a list of organizations that promote the preservation of battlefields, others that document the civil war veterans and their descendants, reenactments of the war, a listing by state of major artifact and archival collections, and important publications on the civil war.

There is no single volume that is more wide ranging in its treatment of the civil war. The editors and the contributors are to be congratulated for putting into one highly readable volume almost anything one might want to learn about the civil war.