This classic survey of one of the most dramatic eras in American history is most notable, perhaps, for the insight it offers into the mindset of the era itself. First published from 1893 through 1906, in the immediate aftermath of the events it covers, it was criticized even then for the author's clear bias-Rhodes believed it was a mistake to have given black men the right to vote after the Civil War. Today, it remains a fascinating look at the times through a prism that is itself of historical interest.

This eight-volume set is a replica of the 1920 "new" edition.

Volume II covers:

• the Know-nothing movement
• the Underground Railroad
• civil war in Kansas
• the Dred Scott case
• "A house divided against itself cannot stand"
• John Brown's raid
• Jefferson Davis
• Lincoln's Cooper Institute speech
• American culture in the 1850s
• Lincoln's election
• and much more.

After earning a fortune in iron, coal, and steel, American author JAMES FORD RHODES (1848-1927) retired to write about history, for which he won the Loubat Prize from the Berlin Academy of Sciences (1901) and the gold medal from the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1910). He is also the author of the single-volume History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 (1918), available from Cosimo.