Includes bibliographical references (pages 389-426) and index.

Introduction -- PART I. ALABAMA SECEDES. The "lawyers' revolution" -- "A leap in the dark" -- "There will be a revulsion" -- PART II. THE WAR BEGINS. "Sprinkle blood in the face of the people" -- "Food for sad and gloomy fits" -- Evil times -- PART III. THE DECREE OF THE NATION. The decree of the nation -- "Yankeeizing Southerners" -- "The struggle of the masters" -- PART IV. THE HARD WAR. The destroying angels -- The reconstructionists -- The slaughter pen -- The river of death -- PART V. IN SEARCH OF PEACE. "God close this terrible war" -- War eagle! -- The horrors of the black flag -- PART VI. BOWING DOWN TO MARS. "Retrograde movements" and "Backward advances" -- Rousseau's Raid -- The fall of Mobile Bay and Atlanta -- PART VII. THE DEATH THROES OF A REBELLION. "On the wrong side of the line of battle" -- "Rats to your holes" -- "Balls and parties are all the rage" -- Franklin, Nashville, and disintegration -- PART VIII. "THE HOLOCAUST". "Ne-gotiation" or "Ne-grotiation" -- "The day of jubilee am come!" -- Conclusion.