Adam I. P. Smith – författare

During the Civil War, Northerners fought each other in elections with almost as much zeal as they fought Southern rebels on the battlefield. Yet politicians and voters alike claimed that partisanship was dangerous in a time of national crisis.In No Party Now, Adam I. P. Smith challenges the prevailing view that political processes in the North somehow helped the Union be more stable and effective in the war. Instead, Smith argues,early efforts to suspend party politics collapsed in the face of divisions over slavery and the purpose of the war. At the same time, new contexts for political mobilization, such as the army and the avowedlynon-partisan Union Leagues, undermined conventional partisan practices. The administration's supporters soon used the power of anti-party discourse to their advantage by connecting their own antislavery arguments to a powerful nationalist ideology. By the time of the 1864 election they sought to de-legitimize partisan opposition with slogans like "No Party Now But All For Our Country!"No Party Now offers a reinterpretation of Northern wartime politics thatchallenges the "party period paradigm" in American political history and reveals the many ways in which the unique circumstances of war altered the political calculations and behavior of politicians and votersalike. As Smith shows, beneath the superficial unity lay profound differences about the implications of the war for the kind of nation that the United States was to become.

How did Gettysburg become the most famous battle of the American Civil War and one of the most consequential in world history? Why is the most visited battlefield, the place where veterans came in the greatest numbers, where Presidents pay homage, and millions of families have vacationed? What was it about this three-day struggle in July 1863 in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania that made it seem the "turning point of the war", or the "high-water mark" of the Confederate rebellion? Gettysburg explains the battle's place in the Civil War, why two vast armies clashed there, and how, in the century and a half since, it has been re-imagined, re-created and re-enacted. It is the story of a battle which no one planned but which became the bloodiest encounter of the war, and one with dramatically high stakes. The postwar romanticisation of Gettysburg as the place of "might-have-beens" is based on a kernel of reality. But it also suited the interests of both the winners and the losers for Gettysburg to become the Civil War in miniature: a glorious, storied, tragic tale small enough to comprehend, but large enough to be inspirational. If this was the battle that determined the war, Confederates could tell themselves that if only they had made different tactical choices, they would have won their independence, while Northerners could credit valour for their victory, without the unromantic need to invoke superior resources. Yet there was only a war because of slavery, and Gettysburg's importance lies in its role in ending it. In the speech Abraham Lincoln gave there, four months after the battle, he expressed the hope that Union victory would inaugurate a "new birth of freedom". The history of the battle has been shaped by a contest over what that means.

The American Civil War was by far the bloodiest conflict in American history. Arising out of a political crisis over the expansion of slavery, the war set the stage for the emergence of the modern American nation-state. This new interpretation of one of the most mythologized events in modern history combines narrative with analysis and an up-to-date assessment of the state of Civil War scholarship.The American Civil War:- Emphasizes the importance of Northern public opinion in shaping the meaning and outcome of the crisis- Argues that the war exposed deep social and political divisions within, as well as between, North and South- Explores the experiences of ordinary soldiers and civilians, and the political and cultural context in which they lived- Sets this distinctively American crisis over slavery and nationhood in the wider context of the nineteenth-century worldConcise and authoritative, this is an indispensable introduction to a critical period in modern American history.

The American Civil War was by far the bloodiest conflict in American history. Arising out of a political crisis over the expansion of slavery, the war set the stage for the emergence of the modern American nation-state. This new interpretation of one of the most mythologized events in modern history combines narrative with analysis and an up-to-date assessment of the state of Civil War scholarship.The American Civil War:- Emphasizes the importance of Northern public opinion in shaping the meaning and outcome of the crisis- Argues that the war exposed deep social and political divisions within, as well as between, North and South- Explores the experiences of ordinary soldiers and civilians, and the political and cultural context in which they lived- Sets this distinctively American crisis over slavery and nationhood in the wider context of the nineteenth-century worldConcise and authoritative, this is an indispensable introduction to a critical period in modern American history.

A new series of bespoke, full-coverage resources developed for the AQA 2015 A/AS Level History. Written for the AQA A/AS Level History specifications for first teaching from 2015, this print Student Book covers The Making of a Superpower: USA, 1865-1975 Breadth component. Completely matched to the new AQA specification, this full-colour Student Book provides valuable background information to contextualise the period of study. Supporting students in developing their critical thinking, research and written communication skills, it also encourages them to make links between different time periods, topics and historical themes.

A new series of bespoke, full-coverage resources developed for the AQA 2015 A/AS Level History. Written for the AQA A/AS Level History specifications for first teaching from 2015, this print Student Book covers the American Dream: Reality and Illusion, 1945-1980 Depth component. Completely matched to the new AQA specification, this full-colour Student Book provides valuable background information to contextualise the period of study. Supporting students in developing their critical thinking, research and written communication skills, it also encourages them to make links between different time periods, topics and historical themes.

Why has "America" - that is, the United States of America - become so much more than simply a place in the imagination of so many people around the world?

Why has "America" - that is, the United States of America - become so much more than simply a place in the imagination of so many people around the world? In both Europe and Latin America, the United States has often been a site of multiple possible futures, a screen onto which could be projected utopian dreams and dystopian nightmares. Whether castigated as a threat to civilized order or championed as a promise of earthly paradise, America has invariably been treated as a cipher for modernity. It has functioned as an inescapable reference point for both European and Latin American societies, not only as a model of social and political organization - one to reject as much one to emulate - but also as the prime example of a society emerging from a dramatic diversity of cultural and social backgrounds.

Why has "America" - that is, the United States of America - become so much more than simply a place in the imagination of so many people around the world?