The Civil War was the most dramatic, violent, and fateful experience in American history… . Little wonder that the Civil War had a profound impact that has echoed down the generations and remains undiminished today. That impact helps explain why at least 50,000 books and pamphlets … on the Civil War have been published since the 1860s. Most of these are in the Library of Congress, along with thousands of unpublished letters, diaries, and other documents that make this depository an unparalleled resource for studying the war. From these sources, the editors of The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference have compiled a volume that every library, every student of the Civil War-indeed everyone with an interest in the American past-will find indispensable. -From the Foreword by James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom