Examines the extraordinary events that led up to the Civil War, from Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election victory, through governmental gridlock, Southern threats to secede, and the machinations of an ambitious William Steward, to the fall of Fort Sumter. 17,500 first printing. History Bk Club."
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Maury Klein's knack for words shows up on the first page of this book: "How could the oldest, deadliest, most divisive conflict of a proud nation come down, after decades of bitter strife, to a dispute over an insignificant fort squatting on a hunk of rock in the harbor of the South's oldest and most defiant city?" Klein, a history professor at the University of Rhode Island, goes on to answer this question in lively prose. The Fort Sumter saga, of course, has been told well by others, but Klein makes the tale worth reading again.
From Library Journal
In this account of the secession winter of 1860-61, historian Klein, author of numerous books on railroads, travels from Charleston, South Carolina, to Washington, D.C., and other places where politicians and military men wrestled with saving the Union and building the Confederacy while trying to avert civil war. The point of contact became Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, which, for the North, stood as a symbol of the Union in a sea of secession and, for the South, as an affront to its claims of independence. With a keen eye for detail, Klein brings the reader into cabinet meetings, the fort, and elsewhere in a you-are-there recounting of daily decision-making amid rising tensions. Klein's main arguments are not new, but his sensitive portraits of James Buchanan, Maj. Robert Anderson, Abraham Lincoln, and various cabinet members reveal the importance of leadership in crisis and of crisis in shaping leadership. For academic libraries.?Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Study of What Almost Happened,
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This review is from: Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War (Paperback)
Almost every literate American is acquainted with the basics of the coming of the War Between the States in the form of Lincoln's election and the firing on Ft. Sumter. Most Civil War students are also acquainted with the military sequence of events of the siege and surrender, followed by Lincoln's call for volunteers to invade the Confederacy and the resulting general hostilities. As far as I know, however, very few lay students of the War have much appreciation for the wide variety of political views on relations between the states at the time, on the possible approaches to the slavery situation (including proposals to guarantee protection for the institution made by some surprising individuals), on the subtle constitutional and other legal aspects of secession, and the actual process by which South Carolina's secession spread to ten other states, some of which were quite reluctant to do so initially. Prof. Klein sets all of this out in a very readable, fast moving text which is guaranteed to hold the reader's interest and attention. From my standpoint, the most interesting aspects involved the (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts by some of the most unlikely individuals to pull the situation back from the brink, and the cynicism of others who are often described in more altruistic and one dimensional terms. At many junctures in Klein's book the reader will get the irresistable urge to play "what if." I "read" this book by a rented audio tape edition during some day long vacation drives and I was extremely pleased with it, in a way that is often not true with well researched histories. The other reviewers who have described this as comparable to a mystery or other novel are not far off the mark and I recommend it very highly.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Beginning of the End,
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This review is from: Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War (Paperback)
This is a superb account of the onset of the end of the American republic as people then knew it. The title and preface would lead the reader to believe that this text is firmly centered on events in South Carolina and the forts nearby. However the author spends much of the book discussing Buchanan, his cabinet, Lincoln and other players who shaped the events of the time. Klein's insights are instructive and render the total picture of how the country was pulled into the great war. I have not read a better account of how the United States government functioned in the days leading up to the war. Klein's portrayals of the individuals involved is remarkable. I have given this book four stars instead of five only because I was led to believe the book is centered on the forts and the conflict in Charleston. If you look at it as a book which explores how our nation drifted into civil war, it is clearly a five. I sincerely hope Mr. Klein continues to write other accounts of the war. He is truly talented.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly outstanding book,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War (Paperback)
I can only echo the previous reviewers who have stated how good this book is. Maury Klein has written a well researched, but highly readable account of the last months of James Buchanan's presidency and the beginning of Abraham Lincoln's first term. In vivid detail, Klein discusses the secession crisis in the South, but focuses mostly on South Carolina. Klein gives great mini-biographies of the differing players and uses tons of diaries, letters, and newspaper accounts to really make the story flow. From a research standpoint, the book is history at its best, but it is also great history because it is engaging and lively and you want to just keep reading. If you read just one book on the coming of the Civil War, this might just be the one to pick up.
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