The Confederate States of America
What Might Have Been
New York : W.W. Norton & Co., [2005]
Format: Book
Edition: First edition.
Description: xv, 352 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
What if Lee had avoided defeat at Gettysburg? What if a military stalemate had developed, coupled with growing antiwar sentiment? What if Lincoln had been defeated in the 1864 election and Great Britain had recognized the Confederacy? What would have been the careers of an independent Confederate States of America and a defeated United States? In the right hands the "what if" question can give us unusual access to the fascinations of history. It can transform the inevitable back into the possible, restoring the contingency and the drama of events. Roger L. Ransom, a master of historical analysis, follows the consequences of the "what if" scenario over an extended period of time, showing us the logical and historically valid outcomes of his counterfactuals. The result is a historical vision that is fascinating, convincing, and a source of insight into the critical events of the Civil War as they actually happened. 24 maps.
Contents:
Conflicting visions : was the Civil War inevitable? -- The Southern gamble : could the South have won? -- Against all odds : the anatomy of a Southern victory -- The king is dead, long live the king : the future of the slave South -- What might have been : the Civil War and "the whole family of man."
Subjects:
Confederate States of America -- History.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
Confederate States of America -- History.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
ISBN:
0393059677 (hardcover)
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
HISTORY War Civil Confederacy Ran | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [325]-337) and index.