This wide variety of lists includes detailed Civil War topics of every description. Commanders from both sides of the conflict are ranked according to the best and worst ever to lead troops during the war. A selection of casualty figures demonstrates the enormous number of lives taken on the fields of the war's bloodiest battles. The composition of the armies is given in terms of state origin, ethnic background, and even average height of the troops. Lists also probe social issues such as the distribution of the African American and White populations, the elections of 1860 and 1864, and the songs and poems sung in the North and the South. Lists of the best books available on the Civil War provide a pathway through the mountainous literature on the subject and offer a basis for further study. More frivolous lists detail unusual unit nicknames, delicacies made from hardtack, the ugliest generals, and generals killed in personal encounters.