In A House Divided, Richard Orr Curry investigates the political realities that led to the breakup of the Old Dominion and the emergence of a new state during the Civil War. Orr's analysis of the intra-state conflicts over political, economic, and social issues, party factions of Unionism and Secessionism and multiple layers of division within those factions, offer fascinating and original insights into the long debate that would lead to the ratification of the West Virginia state constitution in 1863.

Richard Orr Curry was professor emeritus of history at the University of Pittsburgh, and the author or editor of several books including: The Abolitionists; Reformers or Fanatics?; The Shaping of America; and Freedom at Risk: Secrecy, Censorship, and Repression in the 1980s.