<P> The book is written in the manner of a history text published in the alternate reality of 1961 and describing the developments of the past century, in which the Confederate States of America had existed as a separate nation - state . It includes numerous footnotes and quotations from various (fictional) historical writings . </P> <P> The book had a considerable influence on the development of the subgenre of American Civil War alternate histories, one of the two most frequent subjects of American alternate history . Later writers of such books, such as Harry Turtledove, explicitly stated Kantor's influence on their own work . </P> <P> The book starts with the assumption that Union General Ulysses S. Grant was killed by being accidentally thrown off his horse on May 12, 1863, at the start of the Vicksburg Campaign . In the aftermath, General John Alexander McClernand insisted on assuming command despite being a political appointee who was not fit for the job . By thoroughly bad generalship, McClernand managed to totally lose the Vicksburg Campaign and get the Army of the Tennessee almost completely destroyed . Soon afterwards, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee made some better decisions than in our history and managed to win the battle and largely destroy the Union Army of the Potomac as well . </P> <P> Two such major disasters following one upon the other caused a panic reaction in the North . Washington, D.C. descended into total chaos, with mobs running through the streets, looting, raping, and lynching blacks; Lee's army captured the city without firing a shot and proceeded to restore order . With the mobs howling for Abraham Lincoln's blood, it was safest for him to be taken into a comfortable custody at Richmond, Virginia from where he sent northwards a letter announcing his resignation and conceding the Confederacy's victory . </P>

What if the union lost the civil war