When the Civil War broke out, thousands of Kentuckians struggled to maintain the state's neutrality in deciding which side to support. Although Kentucky was a slaveholding state, most of the population did not wish to secede from the Union. More than 140,000 Kentucky solders fought on both sides, in the Eastern and Western Theaters. Some of those who emerged from these battlegrounds are among the state's favorite local heroes. Join historian and author Bryan S. Bush as he recounts the journeys of these brave men who fought to build and maintain the legacy of the Bluegrass State.

Frances Dallam Peter was one of the eleven children of Union army surgeon Dr. Robert Peter. Her candid diary chronicles Kentucky's invasion by Confederates under General Braxton Bragg in 1862, Lexington's monthlong occupation by General Edmund Kirby Smith, and changes in attitude among the enslaved population following the Emancipation Proclamation. As troops from both North and South took turns holding the city, she repeatedly emphasized the rightness of the Union cause and minced no words in expressing her disdain for "the secesh." Peter articulates many concerns common to Kentucky Unionists. Though she was an ardent supporter of the war against the Confederacy, Peter also worried that Lincoln's use of authority exceeded his constitutional rights. Her own attitudes toward Black people were ambiguous, as was the case with many people in that time. Peter's descriptions of daily events in an occupied city provide valuable insights and a unique feminine perspective on an underappreciated aspect of the war. Until her death in 1864, Peter conscientiously recorded the position and deportment of both Union and Confederate soldiers, incidents at the military hospitals, and stories from the countryside. Her account of a torn and divided region is a window to the war through the gaze of a young woman of intelligence and substance.

The Golden Age of Gambling in Louisville Louisville experienced a golden age of gambling between 1860 and 1885, thanks to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers by steamboat and foot. They played faro, keno, roulette and other games of chance, such as chuck-a-luck. Entire city blocks were devoted to betting. Horse racing and lotteries emerged. Gaming houses became grand palaces, with names such as the Crockford, the Crawford and the Turf Exchange, frequented by famous gamblers like Richard Watts, Colonel "Black" Chinn and actor Nat Goodwin. Author Bryan Bush offers up these stories and more about "The City of Gamblers."

Kentucky is the home of bourbon, and there are a proud few who helped usher the industry into prominence. Learn about men like bourbon baron Isaac Bernheim, who founded the Bernheim Forest and Research Center, or John Douglas, who built a racetrack for the trotter racing industry and was known as the "Prince of Sports." George Garvin Brown and his business partner, George Forman, formed the Brown-Forman Company, which today is one of the largest American-owned companies in the spirits and wine business. With such enormous wealth came the temptation for fraud, which led to several bourbon leaders becoming involved in some of Kentucky's famous scandals. Author and Kentucky historian Bryan S. Bush details the intoxicating history of bourbon's biggest historical names.

Gateway to the South. Home of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs. Louisville has a rich history, beginning with the city's discovery by General George Rogers Clark. The city played an important role in the Civil War, and during the Gilded Age, it became the Bourbon Capital of the World. During World War I, the city hosted 47,500 troops at Camp Zachary Taylor. During World War II, the U.S. Naval Ordnance Plant contributed to the war effort, making rounds for big guns during the late war. Author Bryan S. Bush takes the reader on a journey to discover the history of Louisville through the historic sites and locations from far past to the present day.

The author seeks to challenge the long-held perceptions of the politics of the American Civil War. He argues that the war was fought not to preserve the Union or free the slaves but rather to establish the political power of the Republican Party within the federal government. The author argues further that Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party manipulated events to bring about the Civil War in the first place and used the war as a pretext for the establishment of the modern central government.

This is a revised edition by David Herbert Donald of his former professor J. G. Randall’s book The Civil War and Reconstruction, which was originally published in 1937 and had long been regarded as “the standard work in its field”, serving as a useful basic Civil War reference tool for general readers and textbook for college classes. This Second Edition retains many of the original chapters, “such as those treating border-state problems, non-military developments during the war, intellectual tendencies, anti-war efforts, religious and educational movements, and propaganda methods [...] bearing evidence of Mr. Randall’s thoroughgoing exploration of the manuscripts and archives,” whilst it expands considerably on other original chapters, such as those relating to the Confederacy. Still other portions have been entirely recast or rewritten, such as the pre-war period chapters and Reconstruction chapters, reflecting factual updates since Randall’s original publication. A must-read for all Civil War students and scholars.