Amanda Foreman: A World on Fire: A Saga of the Civil War, at Home and Abroad

Foreman, author of the bestselling Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, looks back at Britian's role in the American Civil War, which involved a steady intake of cotton from and export of weapons to the Southern states. The grand scope of the author's vision has already scored high marks in the U.K., where it was published last year.