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    We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861
    We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861
    We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861
    Audiobook12 hours

    We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861

    Written by William J. Cooper

    Narrated by Andrew Garman

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Noted historian William J. Cooper has forged a reputation as one of today's foremost Civil War experts. In We Have the War Upon Us, Cooper takes a fresh look at the months between Lincoln's election and the attack on Fort Sumter that sparked the war. For years, compromise had kept the North and South from conflict- but in these crucial months, the actions of major players on both sides pushed the country to the brink of destruction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateOct 19, 2012
    ISBN9781470323783
    We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861

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    • 5/5
      A very well-done exploration of the critical period between Lincoln's election and the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. By narrowing his focus to those key months, Cooper allows himself to really dig into the details of what was happening as some Americans tried desperately to prevent secession and war while others—both north and south—actively sought the breakup of the Union and even looked favorably on the idea of military conflict.Cooper, the author of several previous books on the South as well as a major Jefferson Davis biography, proves himself very adept at recounting the complex and often extremely confusing negotiations going on, sometimes simultaneously, between different groups in and out of Congress during what's been termed "secession winter." He uses an impressive range of sources, many of them original archival materials, to document his narrative from just about every conceivable angle (being particularly interested in William Seward I was delighted that Cooper put his voluminous writings to good use).Senator Crittenden's efforts to reach a compromise I was at least generally familiar with, but many of the other efforts here, including an attempt by two justices of the Supreme Court to arrange a deal, were entirely new to me. Beyond the attempts at averting war, Cooper's book also delves into the complicated politics Lincoln faced in choosing his cabinet and in making several key initial decisions, particularly about what stances to take when it came to possible compromises and on the question of resupplying federal forts in the south. Finally, there is a great deal of interesting material here on the southern states and the process by which they seceded (or hadn't yet done so at the time of the attack on Sumter). Cooper tells this story extremely well, and I certainly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Civil War and its causes.