The book gives a brief history of the Civil War, but concentrates on the late stages of the war and how the troops under Robert E. Lee were trying to head south to join another Confederate army. The forces of the Union were led by Ulysses S. Grant, and he was working to try and prevent Lee from going south.
Eventually virtually every exit Lee could take was blocked off by the Union, and he had no choice but to surrender. The various letters exchanged between Lee and Grant are discussed, along with the actual signing of the articles of surrender.
One of the really fascinating things is that the house that the surrender was signed in belonged to a man who had moved to Appomattox to get away from the war because the house he once owned turned out to be the site of the very first major battle of the Civil War.
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