This work of essays about Civil War era people isn't well done at all. While some material, especially on Lincoln, is good the tome lags in many areas. For example, the author entertains the asinine theory that the Southern states were plotting to extend slavery into the North prior to the Civil War. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Also the author ignores the possibility that the reason that the South seceded from the Union was not that they didn't believe Lincoln's promise about not interfering with slavery but that they were afraid of loosing the balance of power in the senate. This scenario would have surely happened if slavery was prevented from spreading. Another example of how lackluster the book is the chapter on the Old West included for no apparent reason other than to provide the author an opportunity to needlessly attack John Wayne, Nixon, and Paul Harvey about individualism. The author contends that it didn't exist in the Old West but he is wrong. While certain things brought people together, most settlers were too far away to do this on a daily basis. This is a prime reason why the pioneers were such easy pickings for Indian war parties, outlaws, and others like them. General Sherman, who was in charge for the defense of the West for a time, stated this as a prime reason why the army couldn't protect all of the settlers. There are many more books worth a serious reader's time than this book.