While Cannons Roared is an intimate picture of the American Civil War on the home front, in the corridors of power - and even in the capital's most prestigious hotel. While most books about the war focus on the battlefield, some of the great conflict's most interesting events occurred away from the sound of cannon and rifle fire. These twenty-one entertaining pieces by noted historian John M. Taylor (acclaimed biographer of Civil War figures William Henry Seward and Raphael Semmes) range from an account of how Ulysses S. Grant was for years held personally responsible for a trunk full of stolen money, to the little-known story of how Abraham Lincoln hired a substitute to serve in the Union army on his behalf, and to a full account of the bloodiest political assassination attempt in American history.