"Lincoln and the First Shot" by Richard N. Current, published by J.B. Lippincott, 1963, First Edition, 6th printing.

Soft cover [some wear]; 5.1/2" x 8"; ink written name "Wiggins" on top of the half-title page, 230 pages including Index, very good condition.

"This book is a great introduction to the events from Lincoln's election to the firing on Ft. Sumter and the immediate aftermath. It does an excellent job of breaking down the differing options in front of Lincoln and the path he chose and why... There is also a good chapter from the Confederacy's point of view and a closing chapter on how historians had viewed Lincoln and his decision regarding Ft. Sumter from just after the war up until Current's writing. All in all, a well-written, engaging look at the beginning of the Civil War." [a review]

"Recommend this a thousand times over. The buildup to Fort Sumter reads like a suspense - thriller- political intrigue novel and Current writes in a manner that's both entirely readable but never loses its scholarly approach.

Important actors, you find, on both sides, looked eagerly to avoid confrontation that would lead to war. Back channel negotiations, cabinet meetings, letters, diary accounts, etc are covered in detail and the reader discovers that so much of what they thought they knew about the lead up from secession to civil war is completely inadequate. One cannot blame us for such ignorance. I've been an avid reader of Civil War history since my youth and this complicated interim period is largely glossed over." [private review]

Richard Nelson Current (1912-2012) was an American historian, called "the Dean of Lincoln Scholars" best known for The Lincoln Nobody Knows (1958), and Lincoln and the First Shot (1963).

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) ------------- $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-6 weeks) ------ $27.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-8 weeks) ------- $35.50