None Died in Vain: The Saga of the American Civil War

Leckie ( Delivered from Evil ) is a skillful guide through the daunting complexities of the American Civil War. His descriptions of battles and campaigns, from Fort Sumter to the post-Appomattox surrender of Gen. Joe Johnston's rebel remnant, enable readers to visualize the action and follow the overall strategy on land, sea and inland waterways. His brief portraits of the principal civilian and military leaders, both North and South, are colorful and lively: Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, for one, is described as ``five feet full of bounce, brilliance, and belligerence.'' Perhaps the book's most noteworthy accomplishment is its clarifying examination of slavery in the South, showing how the national controversy over the system shifted from the economic to the moral plane and why the dispute became insoluble by peaceful means. Readers won't find a finer one-volume popular introduction to the War Between the States. (Sept.)