Days of Defiance

“Illuminating and well-written. . . . Deserves a place in the highest ranks of Civil War scholarship.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer

In November 1860, telegraph lines carried the news that Abraham Lincoln had been elected president. Over the next five months the United States drifted, stumbled, and finally plunged into the most destructive war this country has ever faced. With a masterful eye for the telling detail, Maury Klein provides fascinating new insights into the period from the election of Abraham Lincoln to the shelling of Fort Sumter.

Klein brings the key players in the tragedy unforgettably to life: from the vacillating lame-duck President Buchanan to the taciturn, elusive, and relatively unknown Abraham Lincoln; from Secretary of State Seward carrying on his own private negotiations with the South to Major Robert Anderson sitting in his island fortress awaiting reinforcements. Never has this immensely significant moment in our national story been so intelligently of so spellbindingly related.


“Splendid. . . . A riveting story, and Klein has retold it surpassingly well.” —The Washington Post Book World

“Vivid. . . dramatic. . . informative. . . fast-paced. . . . This is the clearest exposition so far of why America took those last, fatal steps to war.” —The Orlando Sentinel

“How war came. . . is the subject that Klein addresses here. He does it so authoritatively, and with such articulate flair, that his book belongs on the shelf of every serious student of the American heritage. Indeed, Klein is now the worthy successor of such highly esteemed historians as Avery O. Craven and David M. Potter.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Maury Klein offers a well-written account of the critical months following Lincoln's election to the presidency, his stimulating narrative clearly tracking the downward spiral that culminated in South Carolina's April 1861 attack on Fort Sumter.” —The Seattle Times

“A perceptive and balanced account, among the finest we have in our historical literature.” —The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

“Drawing heavily on diaries and letters, Klein seeks to show what the people of both regions were like, how they felt, and insofar as possible what they were thinking. . . a highly readable account.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Clear. . . elegant. . . outstanding.” —The New Leader

“A compelling account of the folly and brilliance displayed as the nation veered toward collapse. . . a dramatic narrative.” —Kirkus

“A marvelously insightful and beautifully written account. . . [of] an incredible period that resonates through American life to this day.” —Booklist