A Basic History of the United States, Vol. 3: The Sections and the Civil War, 1826-1877

Carson's full-scale treatment of American history combines scholarly exactness with evocative passages that lead the listener to a clearer understanding of the people and events, the triumphs and the shortcomings, that have shaped this nation.

Carson begins this third volume by diagnosing the root causes that eventually gave rise to sectionalism: regional differences and changes, the election of 1824, the Adams administration, and the emergence of the two parties of American government.

The book goes on to discuss the meaning of Jacksonian Democracy; the removal of the Indians; the nullification and bank controversies; the plantation system; the Transcendentalists and the development of American literature; the public school movement; westward expansion; the election of Lincoln; and finally, the Civil War.

Clarence B. Carson (1925-2003), author and lecturer, recieved a BS in education and an MA in history from Auburn University, as well as a PhD in history from Vanderbilt University. He has served in the US Army, taught at the high school and college levels, and authored ten books and over five hundred articles.

Mary Woods began her career in Washington, DC, where she performed at Ford's Theater, the Folger Theater, Round House, and Washington Stage Guild. She spent several seasons at New Playwrights' Theater developing new American plays. She is a veteran narrator of Talking Books for the Library of Congress, and received the Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award for fiction in 1996. Formerly a radio news director, she now hosts a daily local affairs interview program on Catholic Radio, for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. She lives in Albuquerque, where she continues to act on stage and in film. She received her BA at the Catholic University of America in Fine Arts and Drama.