Alan Taylor, twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize in History, is the author of American Revolutions and American Republics, prior volumes in his acclaimed continental history of the United States. He is Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at University of Virginia, and lives in Charlottesville.
"Given the momentous events and delicious cast of characters, as well as the two-time Pulitzer winner's masterful storytelling skills, it's no surprise that the book is nearly impossible to put down.-- ""Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"" A truly North American history of the defining political crises of the nineteenth century. . . . A must-read for all Civil War aficionados.--Manisha Sinha, author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 With his trademark erudition, Alan Taylor illuminates the great conflicts that rocked Canada, Mexico, and the United States. He shows how these foundational national struggles, while unique, arose from similar tensions over state and national power and ended in greater federal authority.--Andr�s Res�ndez, author of The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America American Civil Wars demonstrates, as no previous work has, the great political transformations sweeping all of North America during the middle of the nineteenth century. With a geographical frame embracing Canada and Mexico as well as the United States, Alan Taylor once again challenges and deepens our historical perspective.--Steven Hahn, author of Illiberal America: A History From its first map showing the United States of America and the Confederate States of America bordered not only by each other but also by the Republic of Mexico, British Canada, and Indian Territory, American Civil Wars shifts our perspective to reveal the US Civil War in the context that everyone at the time understood to involve multiple sovereignties in North America debating and fighting over territory, slavery, sovereignty, and democracy. This is a gripping and deeply important addition to the magisterial Alan Taylor collection.--Kathleen DuVal, author of Native Nations: A Millennium in North America"