Two Miserable Presidents: The Amazing, Terrible, and Totally True Story of the C

<p><b><i>New York Times</i> bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient Steve Sheinkin</b> <b>gives young readers the causes and curses that divided America into Union and Confederate nations in <i>Two Miserable Presidents: The Amazing, Terrible, and Totally True Story of the Civil War</i>, illustrated by Tim Robinson. <p/>A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year</b><br><b>A Beacon of Freedom Award Winner</b> <p/><b>Get the feeling something big is about to happen? Welcome to the Civil War--one of the scariest, saddest, and occasionally wackiest stories in American History.</b><br><b><br>1856</b>: Northern and Southern settlers attack each other in Kansas.<br><b>1858</b>: Congressmen start sneaking guns and knives into the Senate chamber.<br><b>1860</b>: President James Buchanan is heard wailing, "I am the last president of the United States " <p/>Unraveling a very complicated string of events--the small things, the personal ones, the big issues--Steve Sheinkin takes readers behind the scenes that led to The Civil War. It is a time and a war that threatened America's very existence, revealed in the surprising true stories of the soldiers and statesmen who battled it out. <p/>"Chatty and accessible, this book does double duty: it introduces Civil War history for readers who don't know much about it and supplies browsable commentary for those familiar with the big picture...Beginning with a look at the role cotton played in the history, his fast-paced narrative is bro