The Civil War: "A House Divided" (American War Series)

Grade 4-7-Kent attempts to condense the events of this confusing era into an introductory overview. The result is a rather superficial treatment. After presenting a fair background of the causes of the war, he launches into a series of brief battle highlights, some of which- like the headless body of a Union officer continuing on his horse at the Battle of Stone's River-include bloody details. Quotes from various participants are plentiful, but few are attributed to a source. The listing of notes shows that the author relied heavily upon secondary sources for his information, and some of them are questionable. For example, he quotes from several entries of the Time-Life series on the Civil War, as well as from the companion volume to the PBS-TV series.