David Raney

[...]the author sets out to paint a portrait (which, he admits, is impressionistic) of antebellum British attitudes toward American sectionalism that captures the nuances of such complex issues as slavery, trade, and ethno-cultural identity. The author's second objective is to analyze British reactions to secession and the Civil War through the lens of prewar understandings of American sectionalism. [...]O'Connor's book ends somewhat abruptly, without a suitable treatment of how the Emancipation Proclamation disrupted long-standing British beliefs about American sectionalism.