War is always a tragedy. There may be a winner of sorts but always a loser. The cost in injuries, death, destruction can never be fully recovered even if glossed over by a military or political elite that proclaims otherwise.

Even further down on the scale of mankind’s self-destructive baseness is Civil War. One Nation with Two Sides locked in a ferocious fight is inevitably more painful and more despoiling. Civilians are the bait in the trap. Two sets of values may be proclaimed and many offer loyalty to one or the other but society also has those who just want the space and time to live, to enjoy their family and friends. Each to his own.

In the American Civil War that began in 1861 the War was seemingly fought to end Slavery. A War for Good. The result a win for the good guys but a society that still bears fractures from this seminal period.

The stories in this volume show the true scars that are endured as a riven Nations authors try to explain and reconcile. Among their ranks are Ambrose Bierce, Stephen Crane, Willa Cather, Louisa May Alcott and Edward Payson Roe.