Ordeal by Fire: An Informal History of the Civil War

The American Civil War was the crucible that forged the modern United States.As Fletcher Pratt explains, “The truly special character of the conflict is that there has seldom been any war and never any civil war so thoroughly decided on an ideological basis … At the time only two real questions were asked — secession and slavery — and they were answered in such a manner that they need never be asked again.”Without the conflict that lasted from April 12, 1861 to May 9, 1865, and cost the lives of over 600,000 people, redefined the shape of the United States and what it meant to be an American.Fletcher Pratt uncovers the history of this monumental conflict through the course of his seminal book, Ordeal by Fire.Brilliantly written, it covers the major battles, the influential figures, and the political actions that shaped the currents of the war behind the scenes. Yet, rather than just giving an overview of the war, Pratt brings history to life and provides numerous details of how normal men and women were coping with the conflict that surrounded them.The author, historian and critic, Bernard DeVoto, said this book was “best one-volume history of the Civil War I've ever read.”“journalism par excellence and grand reading … He has the faculty for making history read like fiction, for infusing it with the human element, so that it seems timeless. The battles are as vividly handled as though he had been correspondent on the scene.” Kirkus Reviews“I find your Ordeal by Fire both a mine and a mint.” Frances Trevelyan Miller“the most powerful of all short histories of the Civil War published since the Depression.” David Madden, Director of the United States Civil War Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana“if your fiction, good as it is, were as good as your non-fiction, there’d be no room on this world for bumbling hacks like myself. ” Isaac AsimovFletcher Pratt was an American author of fiction and popular history. He is best known for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War as well as his fiction co-written with L. Sprague de Camp. His book Ordeal by Fire; an Informal History of the Civil War was first published in 1935 and Pratt passed away in 1956.