This is a fascinating look at the South leading up to and during the Civil War, showing it to be a rich man's war and a poor man's fight. I was unaware of the deep divisions within the South and this book was an eye-opener about the class conflict and many guerrilla anti-war and deserter enclaves that existed and fought their own battles. Highly recommended. ( )

This is an eye-opening look at the civil war going on in the Confederate States of America at the same time that they were attempting to wage the Civil War against the North.

Williams quotes letters, diaries, newspapers, etc., to argue that most of the population of the South, possibly even among whites, opposed secession from the United States of America. The planter elite used a combination of chicanery, violence and disenfranchisement to set up a new country. As the war went on, and the wealthy planters, who were exempt from the draft, demanded enormous sacrifices from poor whites, it became clearer to the latter that it was a "rich man's war and a poor man's fight." Whether out of loyalty to the United States, class warfare or concern for the sufferings of their families, southern whites resisted the authority of the Confederate States, or fought outright for the Union, forming a quarter of the US Army.

Williams devotes separate chapters to the struggle of African Americans. He doubts that Lincoln would ever have issued the Emancipation Proclamation if the slaves hadn't force the issue by their resistance. The Native Americans, many of whom hoped to simply stay out of the conflict, died by the thousands as neither government supported them.

The book is well-written and gripping, and recommended for anyone interested in American history. ( )