Condition: Good: Good condition for a used book! Some wear. See images for the condition of this book.
Blurb: 2 Volume set includes Volume 1 and 2:
Ordeal of the Union, Vol 1: Fruits of Manifest Destiny 1847-52 Published in 1947, this is an excellent example of the type of narrative history that was so popular years ago, even among professional historians who have now largely abandoned sweeping works like this to focus on much narrower topics. It is the first volume in Ordeal of the Union, Nevins' massive history of the United States from the close of the Mexican War in 1847 through the close of the Civil War eighteen years later.
Ordeal of the Union, Vol 2: A House Dividing, 1852-57. The second volume in Allan Nevins’ series on the Civil War covers the timeframe of 1852-1857. It discusses how a relatively weak President Pierce essentially did the bidding of the slave states. This weakness, as well as the proposal to allow Kansas to self-determine whether it would be free or slave, shattered the short-lived peace from the Compromise of 1850. In the mid-1850’s, the division between North and South rapidly widened.