"Drawn from letters, diaries, speeches, articles, poems, songs, military reports, legal opinions, and memoirs, this collection brings together over 120 pieces by more than 60 men and women to create a firsthand narrative of the first year of the Civil War. Beginning on the eve of Lincoln's election in 1860 and ending in January 1862 with the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War, the selections provide a sense of the immediacy, uncertainty,...

A series of lectures delivered by Professor J. Rufus Fears of the University of Oklahoma in which he explores the following six themes expressed in 36 important books written at different points throughout history: the unconquerable human spirit; youth, old age, and all that is between; romance and love; adventure and courage; laughter and irony; and patriotism.