In the thirdand lastvolume of this vivid history, Shelby Foote brings to a close the story of four years of turmoil and strife which altered American life forever. Here, told in vivid narrative and as seen from both sides, are those climactic struggles, great and small, on and off the field of battle, which finally decided the fate of this nation.

Shelby Foote comes from a long line of Mississippians. He was born in Greenville, and attended school there until he entered the University of North Carolina. During World War II he served in the European theater as a captain of field artillery. He has written six novels—Tournament, Shiloh, Love in a Dry Season, Follow Me Down, Jordan County and September September. He was awarded three Guggenheim fellowships in the twenty-year course of writing his monumental three-volume history The Civil War: A Narrative.

Grover Gardner, named one of the "Best Voices of the Century" by AudioFile magazine, has recorded more than five hundred audiobooks. He is the recipient of more than thirteen Earphones Awards as well as an Audie Award. In addition to narrating, he has an active career as an actor and stage director. He lives in Washington, D.C.