Born in revolution against Great Britain, the United States was reborn in the Civil War. Was it for good or for ill—or an impenetrable tangle of both? No subject continues to generate more books and more arguments than this bloody conflict, the most costly in our nation's history and a source of apparently inexhaustible fascination. The section that follows won't settle the arguments, but it helps to explain why, in Harry Stout's words, "at some profound level, the Civil War is American history."

OTHER CIVIL WAR ARTICLES

"Baptism in Blood"
The Civil War and the creation of an American civil religion.
Harry S. Stout
July/August 2003

Getting It Half-Right
What's worth celebrating in Gods and Generals—and what's not.
by Mark Noll
July/August 2003

When Thou Goest Out to Battle
The religious world of Civil War soldiers.
by David Rolfs
July/August 2003

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