The Eve of Conflict: Stephen A. Douglas and the Needless War

I. Portrait of a senator -- II. The prairie politician -- III. California -- IV. The titans' last stand -- V. The triumph of the Little Giant -- VI. The first defeat -- VII. The race for the Pacific -- VIII. The coming of the storm -- IX. Riding the tempest -- X. In the light of history -- XI. A realist in an emotional age -- XII. The Black Republicans -- XIII. Bleeding Kansas -- XIV. The pendulum swings back -- XV. The second effort -- XVI. Nearing the crisis -- XVII. Douglas and Buchanan -- XVIII. 'Old Obliquity' -- XIX. Buchaneers and Black Republicans -- XX. The Little Giant takes charge -- XXI. The great debates -- XXII. The aftermath of victory -- XXIII. The struggle with the Ultras -- XXIV. The Northwest asserts itself -- XXV. On to Charleston -- XXVI. The death of a party -- XXVII. The conservatives awake -- XXVIII. The second bolt -- XXIX. The campaign of 1860 -- XXX. The cotton states secede -- XXXI. Lincoln rejects compromise -- XXXII. Holding Lincoln's hat -- XXXIII. Death of a hero -- Bibliography -- Index.