What do the most famous traitor in history, hundreds of naked soldiers, and a salmon lunch have in common? They re all part of the amazing story of the American Revolution.

Entire books have been written about the causes of the American Revolution. This isn't one of them. What it is, instead, is utterly interesting, antedotes (John Hancock fixates on salmon), from the inside out (at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, hundreds of soldiers plunged into battle "naked as they were born") close-up narrative filled with little-known details, lots of quotes that capture the spirit and...

Get the feeling something big is about to happen? Welcome to the Civil War--one of the scariest, saddest, and occasionally wackiest stories in American History.

1856: Northern and Southern settlers attack each other in Kansas.
1858: Congressmen start sneaking guns and knives into the Senate chamber.
1860: President James Buchanan is heard wailing, "I am the last president of the United States "

That Congressman, Preston Brooks, was ready to attack Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts over remarks Sumner made slamming senators who supported slavery in Kansas....