This book is the story of the devastation of Fayetteville, Arkansas, during the Civil War. The beautiful frontier town in the mountains is described in the first chapter, 1860: Fayetteville on the Eve of War. The second chapter, 1861: Confederate Days, tells of the Confederate hopes of nationhood and the shock of civil war reaching Northwest Arkansas. The third chapter, 1862: Destruction and Death, describes life in town as it was flooded with casualties of the battles of Pea Ridge in March and Prairie Grove in December. The fourth chapter, 1863: The Battle of Fayetteville, describes the return of Union troops, mostly Union men from Arkansas. There is a detailed description of the Battle of Fayetteville on April 18, 1863, a struggle between Arkansas soldiers in gray and blue, a true civil war battle. It includes a map of the battle, and the back cover of the book shows the imposition of the battle positions on a modern street map of the city. Chapter 4: An Occupied Town in an Endless War describes how the Confederate resurgence in the countryside isolated the Union-occupied town. The final chapter is 1865: Peace from the East. This is a second edition of the book.