Out of Robert Penn Warren's long interest in, and study of, the Civil War has come this penetrating eassay on how the conflict shaped modern America. There is almost no facet of our lives today that does not owe its present character in some measure to the Civil War. Writing about its influence on our economy, our social institutions, our domestic politics and foreign policy, our philosophy and psychology, Mr. Warren applies the past to the present in such a way as to throw new light on many crucial current problems.