AMERICANS HAVE LONG HAD A BLIND-SPOT about their history. This condition applies to the Civil War: most Americans are unaware that Confederate armies won the bloody contest of 1861-63; even Southerners in the Confederate States of America have a fuzzy awareness that their national identity today derives from the wartime sacrifices of their revolutionary forefathers fighting under Lee and Johnston. To set matters right, and to contribute to a much-needed educational literature, we present Confederate Triumph: How the South Won Its War for Independence, 1861-1863 . At the risk of irking the cognoscenti, we review the basic outlines of our narrative, starting with how Lincoln, president of the Northern states, manipulated the weighty events of April 1861 to trick the Confederate States forces into firing on Fort Sumter, thereby "starting" the war. Stephen Davis, former Book Review Editor for Blue & Gray Magazine and author of numerous books, brings this alternative historical novel to the reader with the expertise of one long emerged in the history of the war-its politics, its battles, and the players. This is the first of a three volumes series on the exciting story of how the South won its independence!.