Description: The Civil War placed the U.S. Constitution under unprecedented -- and, to this day, still unmatched -- strain. Neely examines for the first time in one book the U.S. Constitution and its often overlooked cousin, the Confederate Constitution, and the ways the documents shaped the struggle for national survival.
Brief description: Mark E. Neely Jr. is McCabe-Greer Professor of Civil War History Emeritus at Pennsylvania State University. He has written several books, including The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History.
Review Quotes: "A fresh starting point for a new generation of constitutional historians." -- Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians