{"product_id":"2026100010820-secondhand-prelude-to-civil-war-kansas-missouri-1854-61","title":"Prelude To Civil War: Kansas-Missouri, 1854-61","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket - cloth\/board in good condition\u003cbr\u003ePages: Yellowed\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLong before the first shots rang out at Fort Sumter, the American heartland was already ablaze — Prelude to Civil War: Kansas-Missouri, 1854–61 chronicles the savage, often-forgotten border war that foreshadowed the nation's bloodiest conflict, tracing the violent clash between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions that turned the Kansas and Missouri territories into a powder keg of raids, massacres, and political treachery. Eric Corder brings to life the guerrilla skirmishes, impassioned ideologues, and ordinary settlers caught in the crossfire of a struggle that would ultimately define the moral soul of the United States, presenting a vivid and unflinching account of what became known as Bleeding Kansas.\n\nCorder argues compellingly that the Civil War was not a sudden rupture but the inevitable culmination of years of escalating violence and political failure, illustrating how the Kansas-Missouri border became the crucible in which the nation's deepest contradictions were tested. His narrative style is both rigorous and accessible, drawing on period accounts to reconstruct a world of sharply divided loyalties and desperate choices. This is essential reading for anyone who wishes to truly understand not just how the Civil War began, but why it could never have been avoided — and what it cost a nation to find out.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50609713873115,"sku":"2026100010820-SECONDHAND","price":25.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/d558d4a9-df43-4467-b56e-ea90cfc559f2.png?v=1791764812","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100010820-secondhand-prelude-to-civil-war-kansas-missouri-1854-61","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}