In April 1861 troops of the new Confederate States of America opened fire on Union-occupied fort Sumter and launched a bloody four-year war that killed at least six hundred and twenty thousand men including thousands of Canadians who fought in the War.

In accordance with Britain’s foreign policy towards the War, Canada was officially neutral. This, however, did not prevent approximately fifty thousand Canadian-born soldiers from serving in both armies. Four Canadians attained the rank of brigadier-general and twenty-nine were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Throughout the War, Canadian public opinion was divided for various reasons, including religion, language, culture, economic class, and moral background. The Civil War was the culmination of the reciprocal, sometimes parallel, but often intertwining influence of both the United States and Canada on each other’s historical, territorial, political, economic, and social development. Following the War, two new nations emerged.

PRELUDE TO WAR is the first in a series of books dealing with Canada and the American Civil War by Canadian author and historian Mark Vinet. It offers an in-depth study of the fiery issues that led to the War and dramatically unveils how both countries as neighbors dealt with the contentious issues of Sectionalism, Slavery, Slave Rebellions, Abolitionism, and the Underground Railroad.

Mark Vinet’s detailed book reviews the early pivotal causes that eventually led to War between the States. His work paints a canvass that illuminates the political, economic and social landscapes of both countries up to the beginning of the tumultuous decade before the Civil War. Canadian influence and participation in important events are explored and in turn set the scene for a look at Canada on the eve of the great American struggle. In order to understand both Canada and the United States in 1850, the author voyages back to earlier times and incidents that set in motion a series of events that help explain the Canadian and American relationship as neighbors prior to the Civil War. This fascinating historical journey follows an unavoidable path of exciting episodes led by people who at times reached beyond their grasp to touch a key moment in time. The work sweeps across the grand issues of the day and concludes on the eve of the Compromise of 1850 and the Border War in Kansas, an ominous sign of things to come and the Civil War’s bloody preview.

The series will consist of four books:

PRELUDE TO WAR
THE ROAD TO SECCESSION
THE WAR YEARS
BIRTH OF TWO NATIONS.

Volume 1 is available now. Contact Mark at his website..

This space provided courtesy of