This is a well written story. Character development is done in context of the times, albeit through a grandfather who lived through it. The war between the states was the war between members of families, between brothers. The country, families, people suffered incredible trauma and all were irrevocably changed.
There was a division of worldviews that eventually came down to a war. This story reminds us why we should not let the divisions linger and fester into us versus them.