Including the classics of the genre as well as rare period pieces by African Americans and women, and northern and southern patriotic verse and songs, The Columbia Book of Civil War Poetry paints the background of the conflict and its literature in Richard Marius's renowned prose, with each poem introduced by a compelling vignette. What emerges is an unparalleled pageant of the war in all its power and sentimentality, the anger of its participants and their yearning for peace.