Provenance of the contents -- Why the Civil War still matters -- Mexico, California, and the coming of the Civil War -- A just war? -- Death and destruction in the Civil War -- American navies and British neutrality during the Civil War -- The rewards of risk-taking : two Civil War admirals -- How did freedom come? -- Lincoln, slavery, and freedom -- A. Lincoln, Commander in Chief -- The commander who would not fight : McClellan and Lincoln -- Lincoln's legacy for our time -- War and peace in the post-Civil War South.