The Divided Union' is an account of five of the most dramatic and tragic years in the history of the US. The families and neighbours of a fledgling superpower were pitted against each other in a war concerned with the most fundamental of human motivations: freedom, identity, and nation. While great leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S Grant found their moment, millions of ordinary Americans suffered terribly and more were killed than during the First and Second World Wars combined. The victory of the North determined the indivisibility of the Union and ensured its development as a nation, yet deep scars remained, and the ideals outlined by Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address failed to become a blueprint for the modern US. This is an accessible and compelling account both of the conflict itself and of its wider implications.