Prelude to Civil WarWhen William Freehling's Prelude to Civil War first appeared in 1965 it was immediately hailed as a brilliant and incisive study of the origins of the Civil War. Book Week called it fresh, exciting, and convincing, while The Virginia Quarterly Review praised it as, quite simply, history at its best. It was equally well received by historical societies, garnering the Allan Nevins History Prize as well as a Bancroft Prize, the most prestigious history