The Fall of the House of Dixie (Bruce Levine, 2013)

I seldom pick Civil War-era books, in part because I think I already picked up a fair amount of information about the topic.  Incorrectly.  Levine pulls together all sorts of primary source material to create a highly interesting discussion of what was going on in the South - social and political stuff, not so much from the oft-reported battlefields. I liked it a great deal.

And it wasn't just another consciousness-raising exercise about the awfulness of slavery (not to downplay its awfulness, but that topic has been done quite a few times).  The author gives lots of context around the various social classes in the South, their sometimes-overlapping and sometimes-diverging outlooks, etc.  Very helpful.

Philosophical underpinnings of slavery - how blacks were better off enslaved - did anyone really believe this (or just profess it for convenience sake)?

The power of the Southern states from Revolutionary War era on through the run-up to the Civil War - strong representation in all branches of government.

Complex politics of the Republican Party - the belief that slavery would die a natural death if prevented from spreading to new territories (thus Lincoln's aversion to outright prohibition in existing states).  Southerners believed this as well, leading to border wars and fights over opening up new states and territories to slavery.

Didn't realize that both sides desperately needed the manpower represented by blacks.  Confederacy refused to use them (other than the most menial of labor-support tasks) for pretty obvious reasons:  can you trust armed slaves?; how can you make them a soldier if you believe they are dimwitted, docile and incapable of independent action?; implicit equality with white fellow soldiers is a big problem in this belief system; etc.  North record not the greatest, but some blacks were given the opportunity to fight and took full advantage of it.

The very different uses of (and attitudes toward) slavery within the South.  Plantation society in just a few areas.  Lots of upland whites with no real investment in slavery - their enthusiasm for the war dimmed much more quickly.

Slave owners willingly sending their own sons to war, but refusing to release slaves for support activities.

How Northern attitudes (including Lincoln's) changed over the years - to unabashedly pushing for abolition.  Realized the middle ground didn't exist.

Democrats undermining Republican efforts.  On-the-ground challenges in the South - how to ensure that the war wasn't lost after the South surrendered?  This didn't work out so well (not the topic of this book, though there is another new book out on the topic of Reconstruction).

Touching stories of blacks being freed; families reunited after separation via slave sales; etc.

The South - burdened with, but dependent upon, an indefensible institution - with no choice but to defend it.