"This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men. . . . to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life."-Abraham Lincoln

Chosen by Civil War magazine as one of the 200 best books on the war, Phillip Paludan's acclaimed work was the first book since 1910 to describe in a single volume the multifaceted impacts of this tragic conflict on Northern society.

Weaving together insights from literature, law, politics, economics, diplomacy, and religion, Paludan shows how the North redefined itself as a modern nation through two monumental and inextricably linked events-the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. More than that, he brings this story to life through the lives and writings of the individuals, great and small, who experienced and influenced the events he describes.