Breckinridge was the vice president of the United States. Later he came closest to defeating Abraham Lincoln for the presidency in 1860. In a short time he became secretary of war in the Confederate cabinet. This -- the first -- comprehensive biography of this remarkable man and his generation covers one of the turbulent eras of the American past. Breckinridge was a Kentucky lawyer and veteran of the Mexican War when he was elected to the state legislature in 1849. Soon thereafter he was elected to Congress and in 1856 became James Buchanan's running mate. After his defeat by Lincoln in the 1860 election, he took his seat in the Senate and supported the Union on the question of succession. Because he opposed most of Lincoln's other policies, he was considered dangerous. When Lincoln ordered him arrested, even though no charges had been filed against him, Breckinridge escaped to the South and joined the Confederate army as a brigadier general. Later he was appointed secretary of war by Jefferson Davis. Prominent in every field he entered, Breckinridge was a leading statesman and soldier. As a moderate and earnest supporter of compromise, he became the symbol of peaceful reconciliation between the states after the Civil War.

    The year's special issue (July 1973) was about "The Common Soldier of the Civil War" and was written by Bell I. Wiley.

    With the publication of this book, the war is set in its proper context of international power politics.The author, the Australian historian D. P. Crook. studies the South's quest for recognition, and the North's fight against intervention. He offers fresh assessments of the link between American expansionism in the antebellum era and Union diplomacy under William H. Seward. And he explores neglected topics such as the economics of Anglo-American relations and naval strategy, besides dealing with the foundations of Confederate cotton diplomacy.Professor Crook explains how and why the great European powers of the day adopted a policy of neutrality. He shows how that policy was not only shaped by contingency planning and day-to-day events, but was also based on important general factors: the limited options dictated by European power politics, the Anglo-American détente reached in the 1850's, international economics, and domestic politics in Europe.Seward's plans for starting a Caribbean war, the true nature of the Trent affair, Gladstone's enigmatic role in the British interventionist moves of 1862-3, and the international wrangles caused by the maritime war--all are subject to the author's close scrutiny.A final chapter, entitled "Verdicts," reveals why the Great Powers exercised restraint, why peace marked the end of a distinctive phase in Atlantic history, why the Civil War was a significant factor in the history of American expansionism, and why the Union victory was interpreted abroad as a victory for militarism, centralist nationalism, and monolithic capitalism.