"This is the first Civil War atlas to depict multiple aspects of the war's action, month by month, from April 1861 through May-June 1865. Fifty full-color maps - one for each month of the war - convey as never before a sense of the war's progression on all fronts - battles, sieges, infantry campaigns, naval operations, cavalry raids, and even shifts of national frontiers. One set of additional maps provides background into the political state of the nation as it headed into the war; another set covers the war as it was fought in the western reaches of the country. The text on facing pages supports each map with extra facts and figures, while the atlas's big 14 x 10 format allows for exceptional line clarity, color, and detail."--Jacket.

Introduction: Origins of the Civil War -- The rise of the Republican Party and the 1860 presidential election -- The 1860 census and its implications for the Civil War -- December 1860 to March 1861 -- April 1861 to June 1865 -- Appendix: the Civil War in the far West.