The story of the months after Lincoln's election up to the Confederate assault on Fort Sumter that ignited the Civil War. Larson always manages to arrange the documentary records to narrate a compelling drama of whatever subject he's examining. This is no exception. I was surprised by the level of detail available to him as well as the thinking and strategies of the players. Most revealing was the depth of ignorance both sides had about the other and the inevitable collision. A lesson for today's 'rebels' was the Southerner's inability to see beyond the current drama and the tide of history that would ultimately leave them vilified. They were so identified with an archaic view of chivalry, honor and sense of superiority over both slaves and Northerners that they couldn't recognize the industrial wave that make their economic model obsolete and their worldview barbaric.
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