This collection of essays discusses Arkansas’s secession from the Union in 1861. Essayists Michael B. Dougan, Lisa T. Frank, Carl Moneyhon, Thomas A. DeBlack, and William G. Piston presented papers at a seminar held in 2006 at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock addressing the secession convention in 1861, women and politics in Arkansas and the South, why men from Arkansas fought for the Confederacy, why Arkansas seceded when it had a large unionist population originally opposed to secession, and Arkansans involved in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in Missouri.

Although one might think that these essays would be overly academic, they are in fact quite readable and enjoyable - and important, since little has been written about Arkansas and the Civil War. The Die Is Cast is highly recommended to Civil War enthusiasts interested in Arkansas’s involvement in the War.