Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

"1862" was a disappointment. In actual fact, America would be fighting way, way out of its weight against Britain in 1862. The UK had a larger population, a much larger GDP, and the advantage in the crucial areas (heavy industry, marine steam engines, heavy engineering) was even greater -- somewhere between six to one and eight to one. In 1862 Britain was at its height as the dominant manufacturing power, producing half or more of the entire _world's_ output. The Union had to extert every effort to defeat the Confederacy. Its prospects of defeating the UK and the CSA at the same time would be somewhere between zero and zip. The US might make gains in Canada, but that would be irrelevant and they'd have to cough up at the peace conference; the war would be fought and won and lost at sea, and on the southern front. Real results? A close blockade of the northern coasts, collapse of Federal government revenues, hyperinflation, defeats at the hands of the Confederate army, British-built gunboats dominating the Mississippi. Almost certainly a collapse of the Unionist will to fight and humiliating defeat, with harsh peace terms set by the victors - probably massive losses of territory to the Confederacy in the West (probably as far as California) and punitive war indemnities and reparations.