Via
Andrew Sullivan, here's the
American Civil War in Four Minutes.
The condensation reminds me of a book I
mentioned before,
Forge of Empires![](http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=quicksilber-20&l=ur2&o=1)
by Michael Knox Beran. The book traces the 1860s paths of Lincoln, Bismarck and Tsar Alexander II in considerable detail--but then suddenly races through major events like Lincoln's reelection, and virtually jumps over his assassination (discussing it only obliquely after the fact). That's a somewhat unsatisfying literary device, though it remains a very interesting book overall.