Union in Peril: The Crisis over British Intervention in the Civil War
Jones (history, Univ. of Alabama) has undertaken a scholarly journey into previously uncharted territory: the failure of European countries, especially England, to intervene in the Civil War, which scholars believe might have affected the outcome. Jones documents both the condition of American-British relations and the South's attempts to solicit foreign support during the early years of the conflict. Diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy, Jones claims, would have gone a long way toward legitimizing secession and undermining the U.S. constitution. In this thought-provoking and very well-organized book, Jones does a laudable job of presenting both the British arguments for and against intervention and the foundations of the crisis in the relationship between what arguably were the two most powerful nations in the world at the time. Although the notes seem scanty for a book of this size and scope, they are well chosen and integrated with the material. Recommended for academic and U.S. history collections.- Thomas G. Anton, Field Museum of Natural History, ChicagoCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.