This text is an excellent supplement for Civil War or U.S. History survey course. Using diaries, letters, and other contemporary sources, this follows 20 individuals--Northerners and Southerners--from the outbreak of hostilities at Fort Sumter to the Confederate surrender of Appomattox four years later. The sources have been edited to a manageable length and include chapter introductions and headnotes. Students get a sense of the social dimension of the war, often neglected in textbooks.