The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861

The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861

David M. Potter's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Impending Crisis is the definitive history of antebellum America. Potter's sweeping epic masterfully charts the chaotic forces that climaxed with the outbreak of the Civil War: westward expansion, the divisive issue of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's uprising, the ascension of Abraham Lincoln, and the drama of Southern secession. Now available in a new edition, The Impending Crisis remains one of the most celebrated works of American historical writing. “The classic study of antebellum America” - American Prospect “Profound and original. The Impending Crisis is history in the grand tradition.” - Eric Foner, New York Times Book Review “The magnum opus of a great American historian.” - Newsweek “With a rare combination of nuance and narrative drive, David Potter... vividly portrays a nation coming apart. ... Potter writes with such immediacy that events long past feel like the present unfolding before our eyes.” - Andrew Delbanco, Wall Street Journal “Modern scholarship’s most comprehensive account of the coming of the Civil War.” - Lacy K. Ford, Journal of Southern History “David M. Potter’s magisterial The Impending Crisis is the single best account to date of the coming of the Civil War.” - Civil War History David M. Potter's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Impending Crisis is the definitive history of antebellum America. Potter's sweeping epic masterfully charts the chaotic forces that climaxed with the outbreak of the Civil War: westward expansion, the divisive issue of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's uprising, the ascension of Abraham Lincoln, and the drama of Southern succession. Now available in a new edition, The Impending Crisis remains one of the most celebrated works of American historical writing. David M. Potter (1910-1971) was a professor of history at Yale and Stanford universities. He was posthumously awarded the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Impending Crisis , which his Stanford colleague Don Fehrenbacher completed and edited. Don E. Fehrenbacher (1920-1997) was awarded the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Dred Scott Case , and edited the Library of America's two-volume collection of Abraham Lincoln's speeches and writings.