James McPherson quite possibly has written the definitive volume on the American Civil War. McPherson discusses from start to finish the politics, military strategies, the people involved, and the feelings that were experienced during this dark period in American history. The book is written with the idea that there needed to be a light shed upon both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. McPherson has found a way to see the war, battle by battle, through the eyes of both the Northerners and Southerners who had a stake in the outcome.