Book Description
This exceptional book will be applauded by writers, students, historians and casual readers alike. From soldiers and statesmen to farmers and firing lines, Everyday Life During the Civil War offers an in-depth exploration of this fascinating era.
Using dozens of illustrations, timelines and maps, Michael J. Varhola illuminates the details of Northern and Southern economy; town and country living; food and the impact of war on diet; popular entertainment; clothing; military life; tools and weapons; slang and much more.
Also includes a thorough appendix of resources, featuring books, websites, historic locations and living history organizations.
Customer Reviews:
This Is Not the Book.......2006-11-12
This book would be amazing if the information was correct. A lot of statistics are wrong. Perhaps this book had been written with a very strict deadline or they did not have fact checkers. The book isn't really about 'Everyday Life', the fashion section shows a dress that no average woman could have worn or could have afforded. They show a dress that was really only meant for teenagers and children. I would suggest " An Introduction to Civil War Civilians" by Juniata Leisch. It is cheaper and gives a better insight.
Easy read.......2006-01-01
This book is a valuable source of information on the life of people during the civil war that reads more like a novel than a textbook.
Interesting to read but the devil's in the details.......2005-04-20
I enjoyed reading this book but right from the start some things just didn't fit very well. Perhaps better proofreading and editing would have helped.
An example quoted from the section about Michigan, "Michigan sent nearly one in four of its military age men to fight for the Union during the Civil War - more than 90,000 total from a population of 150,000 - and about 14,000 of them were killed during the conflict." Try to make sense of those numbers!
Again, an enjoyable book but research or editing or proofreading keep it from being better than just enjoyable.
Alternate Title - The Civil War Bathroom Book?.......2003-05-06
My reaction to this book was extremely mixed. I ordered it by mistake, after confusing it with another book that had "Everyday Life" in the title. The section about the involvement of the various states in the war was generally excellent--and provided a good reminder that the Civil War didn't affect only the eastern seaboard states that tend to get the most attention. Details about country and city life, military organization and insignia, the war's timeline, shortages in the south, and events leading up to the war were extremely helpful. This information is concise, well organized, and well illustrated.
What concerns me in books that are supposed to serve as a factual resource for others is when I find obvious errors. The women's fashion section perpetuates Hollywood myths about Civil War-era fashions. Mr. Varhola would have done well to consult Juanita Leitch's well-researched "Who Wore What," considered the Bible for those involved in living history depicting the 1850s and 1860s. Instead, he leaves the reader with the impression that most women dressed like Scarlett O'Hara. The two pictures he selected to portray women's fashions are a ruffled ballgown, reminiscent of Scarlett's white dress in GWTW, and a Zoave jacket/Garibaldi shirt combination favored by less-authentic Civil War reenactors. Experts on 1860s fashion consider the latter a high-fashion item that most average women would not have worn. Terminology and descriptions about underpinnings also do not ring true.
I would give the overall book four stars, but the fashion section and some disappointing information about my home state two stars, thus my rating is an average. Someone just learning about the period would find the book quite useful--as long as they ignored the fashion section. Those more familiar with the period likely would regard it as a less useful rehash of information they have already read.
Very enjoyable to read........2003-03-28
This book is organized in such away that you could skip around and pick out just the information that you wanted, but I really enjoyed reading it from cover to cover. It gave me a deeper understanding of what life was like during the Civil War. Now I'll enjoy books and movies about that era even more because I'll be able to put them in a richer context. Writers and reenactors will particularly enjoy this book, but it will appeal to anyone who likes history.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Book.......2006-12-21
I purchased this book for my grandaughter and we have enjoyed reading it together. Since I am a civil war buff, I can commend this book for its historical accuracy and relevance. It has been great to share my favorite historical period with my grandaughter in a format that is easy for her to understand. The drawings and pictures are excellent. I agree with the previous reviewer. Yes, this book deals with slavery, because that was THE issue during the civil war. All of our children, regardless of race, need to be educated about the Civil War. And that would be impossible to accomplish by limiting or eliminating information on slavery and the major role it played before, during, and after America's Civil War.
Of Course It's about Slavery.......2006-07-22
This book is a great introduction to children about a difficult subject. It is well-written without being too heavy for a youngster. I am somewhat irritated at a previous review, stating that the book focuses too much on slavery and "not enough time spent on life during the Civil War." I hope others reading this book with their children realize that it is about a young black girl who is growing up in the institution of slavery. For her and actual slaves like her, this was "life during the Civil War."
Great Book!.......2000-07-03
This is really good! I felt like I was there!
Worst book in the series.......2000-05-04
There was too much time spent in the book on slavery and not enough time spent on life during the Civil War.
Average customer rating:
- A scholastically important primary source
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The Christian Soldier: Religious Tracts Published for Soldiers on Both Sides During and After the English Civil Wars, 1642-1648 (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies)
Manufacturer: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance S
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ASIN: 0866983015 |
Customer Reviews:
A scholastically important primary source.......2003-12-12
Researched, compiled and edited by Robert Fallon (Professor Emeritus, Lasalle University, Philadelphia), The Christian Solider is an inherently fascinating and scholastically important primary source consisting of religious tracts published for soldiers on both sides of the English Civil Wars from 1642 to 1648. Hallmarked by a carefully annotated scholarship, The Christian Solider offers insight into the justifications used to resolve the seeming paradox of having a Christian faith while employing a deadly sword, then contemporary views upon royalty, and so much more. A revealing glimpse into history, religion, and human psychology, The Christian Soldier is an impressive and strongly recommended contribution to British History reference collections.
Average customer rating:
- Grandpa Scrugg's Civil War Stories
- Surviving Elmira
- amazing research
- Tramping with the Legion
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Tramping With the Legion: A Carolina Rebel's Story
C. Eugene Scruggs
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1425102336 |
Book Description
The Carolina Rebels of Company K, Holcombe Legion, were true sons of the Upstate. Brothers, cousins, and neighbors- all were well-suited for service in the independent brigade commanded by Ol’Shanks (Brig. Gen. Nathan Evans). The “boys” of Company K wore out many a set of boots “tramping” with the Legion wherever the regiment was needed- Charleston, Richmond, Malvern Hill, Rappahannock Station, Manassas Junction, Kinston, Wilmington, Jackson, Savannah and Petersburg.
One member of Co. K tells the story of his adventures with the legion, his capture at Stony Creek, his dramatic escape from the infamous Union prison in Elmira, New York, and his harrowing trek back to Virginia through the mountains of Pennsylvania and Maryland, helped along the way by copperheads, Dunkards and Dutch.
Customer Reviews:
Grandpa Scrugg's Civil War Stories.......2007-02-02
I enjoyed reading Grandpa Scruggs' account of his experiences in Company K, Holcombe Legion of South Carolinians fighting for their state's freedom from the tyranny of the Union. The format of night time stories told by Grandpa Scruggs to his grandchildren kept a dramatic tension in the book that helped keep me reading. We learn about the courage and commitment of Judd and other soldiers to their cause. We learn of the hardships, boredom,and horror of life as a foot soldier. The ways captured soldiers were treated changed as the war progressed. Judd experienced both ways. Because of the personal focus of this book, we also learn how the war caught up extended families and effected them. We also get glimpses of life back at home while the men were at war. I highly recommend Eugene Scruggs' book.
Surviving Elmira.......2007-02-01
Eugene Scruggs has made a valuable contribution to the history of the War Between the States with his account of the exploits of his great grandfather, Judson Puryear Scruggs, as an enlisted man in the Holcombe Legion, South Carolina Volunteers. To be sure, Scrugg's book is another in the "Johnny Reb and Billy Yank" tradition of oral history accounts from the point of view of the ordinary foot soldier. However, it is given context by a body of historical research, and a truly insightful introduction to some of this conflict's enduring themes. For many readers, the most interesting parts of the narrative will be those about life under horrible conditions in the POW camp at Elmira, NY, Judson's resourceful escape therefrom, and his traverse through enemy territory to Virginia.
In my opinion, however, as an avid student of the conflict rather than a professional historian, Scrugg's finest achievement was in his reconstruction of Judson's narrative within a quasi-fictional framework, in which he recreates not only the voice of his great-grandfather, but also that of the grandchildren who are auditors of the story. This teachnique not only creates a sense of immediacy in the flow of the narrative, but instills a kind of novelistic suspense which makes it enjoyable for the reader. This approach also permits Scruggs to render narrative as a truly "oral history," in that he has recreated the language of the period --- the regional dialect of 19th century Southerner. His handling of the artistic problem of the use of "eye dialect," moreover, is deftly handled: instead of generating pages of mangled orthography, Scruggs includes only occasional phonetic spellings, opting instead for the dialectal phrase, the idiom, and the speech rhythmns of his people. Professional historians may take issue with Scrugg's decision to treat his material in this way; other readers may enjoy it as thoroughly as I did.
Roger Cole
January 29, 2007
amazing research.......2007-01-29
I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Scruggs' book. It is written in such a manner that it draws the reader into the family circle while providing an amazing amount of detail into the history of the Legion and the personal recollections of Jud, the author's great grandfather.
Tramping with the Legion.......2007-01-16
With the help of his older relatives, Gene Scruggs has gathered together the oral history left by his great grandfather, Sergeant Judson Scruggs, who served in South Carolina's Holcombe Legion during most of the Civil War.
Almost nothing has been written about this effective fighting unit which was organized early in the war by Peter F. Stevens, a former superintendent of The Citadel. 'Shanks' Evans, whose brigade included the infantry regiment of the Holcombe Legion, regarded it as his best fighting unit. During Lee's 1862 campaign, the accomplished Stevens often led Evans' entire brigade on the many occasions when Evans was posted to the divisional level.
In his stories, Judson recalls training camps around Charleston, the battles of Malvern Hill, Rappahannock Station, Second Manassas, Lee's First Maryland Campaign, Kinston (NC), and Jackson (MS). In the summer of 1864, the Holcombe Legion was detailed to guard the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad and (luckily) was not with Evans' Brigade at the Battle of the Crater. However, Judson was captured while guarding the Stoney Creek (VA) station and bridge and sent to the infamous Elmyra (NY) Prison. Perhaps Judson's most interesting stories recount his tunnelling out of prison in October 1864 and his experiences of running, hiding, and working his way home by late May of 1865.
Gene Scruggs includes glimpses of the daily lives of his Spartanburg District ancestors as he fashions the war stories as if his great-grandfather was telling them to his grandchildren in nightly installations. This is a "good read" for anyone interested in this troubled time in American history.
Average customer rating:
- A REAL MAN!
- A brilliant piece
- Excellent insight into the thoughts of a naval hero.
- romantically detailed account
- Semmes was perhaps the best naval officer of his generation.
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Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States
Raphael Semmes
Manufacturer: Louisiana State Univ Pr
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Binding: Paperback
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Confederate Raider 1861-65 (New Vanguard)
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Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama
ASIN: 0807120863 |
Customer Reviews:
A REAL MAN!.......2002-05-20
The only bad thing I can say about this book is that on a very few occasions Semmes tends to get into some scholarly explanations about natural phenomena that, while interesting, slow the pace of the reading some.
Otherwise, Semmes tells of his adventures on the high seas with clarity and wit. The book's first few chapters give his legally sound (Semmes was also a lawyer) justifications of the Southern case for secession and his participation in the preparation for equipping a navy from practically nothing.
The Alabama's defeat of the iron-plated USS Hatteras and the final battle with the USS Kearsarge are there in detail in addition to the tale of her very successful commerce raiding upon the civilian commerce of the North.
Contrary to the rabid Northern newspapers of the time, Semmes reveals himself and his officers to be the gentlemanly knights of the high seas in stark contrast to the conniving Federal consuls who, in nearly every port, attempted to foil the Confederate sailors' coaling and supplying of the ship despite international maritime law that allowed it.
Semmes most effectively fought the mercantile world empire of the Union, all the while working within the confines of maritime law. (The few actions of his that were officially disputed were eventually settled in his favour.) This, again, is in contrast to the Federal navy that, under Welles' and Seward's leadership, played the bully and ignored international law when it was inconvenient.
The CSS Alabama (along with a few other CS ships) virtually shut down the US merchant marine -- a blow from which it never fully recovered. His fight with the Kearsarge proved to be the last best use of a ship that was otherwise bound to be blockaded in port by the Federal navy (that proved itself remarkably inept, apparently cowardly, and negligent in its mission to stop Semmes).
A brilliant piece.......2000-03-14
In another life Semmes might have been a poet or artist. Circumstances forced him to become the greatest seaman in the 19th century. I have read from an independant source that Kaiser Wilhelm insisted his high ranking officers read this book in preperation for the First World War. The Norths hypocracy is shameful. This book is by far the greatest review written by anyone on either side of the war. Sadly political correctness has kept Semmes greatness buried at this point.
Excellent insight into the thoughts of a naval hero........1999-11-03
I found this book to be a refreshing insight into the exploits of one of the most interesting naval men of his era. Semmes comes across as a man that prizes duty to his beliefs as the soul motivation to his actions. This dispels any of the myth that he was a pirate as often historicaly believed.While many pages are devoted to navigation and tidal patterns,which can be a bit boring to the non-seaman, the book is excellent overall.
romantically detailed account.......1999-02-22
Admiral Semmes allows us to truly feel the times and to touch our hearts with Southern pride and honor.
Semmes was perhaps the best naval officer of his generation........1997-07-25
The book begins with an arguement for states rights which history has failed to record as the primary cause of the civil war. He goes into a detailed analysis of his beliefs and he reflects the thinking of his times. His story then goes into detail of his exploits as the greatest privateer in the history of naval warfare. Had he been on the winning side his name would be mentioned in the same breath as Grant and Sherman. Can anyone name one US naval officer that served in the civil war? His story takes the reader from Annapolis to New Orleans to the South Pacific to Gibraltar and to the final demise of the CSS Alabama off the coast of France. His tale explains his actions and defends them with an indepth look at maritime law. He explains the laws involved with a detail and style that makes it easy for anyone to understand. His story should not be allowed to fade into past. It is something from a terrible time that should be looked at by naval officers today. He is a man to be honored, not cast away as a pirate
Average customer rating:
- One of the 200 Most Important Confederate Books
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On the Plantation: A Story of a Georgia Boy's Adventures During the War
Joel Chandler Harris
Manufacturer: Sergeant Kirkland's Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1887901167 |
Customer Reviews:
One of the 200 Most Important Confederate Books.......1997-09-21
One of the 200 Most Important Confederate Books for the Reader, Researcher and Collector.
Richard Barksdale Harwell
Author of In Tall Cotton
As listed in In Tall Cotton: [This is] a fictional treatment of Harris' early teen-age years as printer's devil for The Countryman, a remarkable country paper roughly modeled after The Spectator that was published during the war years by Joseph Addison Turner at Turnwold Plantation near Eatonton, Georgia.
Harris dedicated On the Plantation to Turner and says in an "Introductory Note": "Some of my friends who have read in serial form the chronicles that follow profess to find in them something more than an autobiographical touch. Be it so. It would indeed be difficult to invest the commonplace character of Joe Maxwell [i.e., Harris] with the vitality that belongs to fiction. Nevertheless, the lad himself, and the events which are herein described, seem to have been born of a dream. That which is fiction pure and simple in these pages bears to me a stamp of truth, and that which is true reads like a clumsy invention. In this matter it is not for me to prompt the reader. He must sift the fact from the fiction and label it to suit himself."
Average customer rating:
- Life in Dixie
- Historically Accurate
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Life in Dixie During the War (Civil War Georgia)
Mary A. H. Gay
Manufacturer: Mercer University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0865547491 |
Book Description
One of the few narratives of life in Atlanta during the Civil War.
Out of print for decades, Mercer University Press proudly revives this acclaimed real-life account of what the fictional Scarlett O'Hara saw. Life in Dixie During the War, first published in 1892, ranks among the best first-person accounts of the American Civil War. Mary A. H. Gay eloquently recounts her wartime experiences in Georgia and bears witness to the “suffering and struggle, defeat and despair, triumph and hope that is human history.”
Mary Gay was not only a chronicler, but an active participant in wartime activities; old veterans described her as “unusually brave and fearless.” While her book reads like a novel, it continues to be praised by modern scholars as an honest report of American history. James I. Robertson Jr. author of the acclaimed Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend, says: “Mary Gay's Life in Dixie During the War is one of the few authentic personal narratives we have of life in Atlanta during the Civil War.”
Sam Cunningham, the founding editor and publisher of Confederate Veteran, reported that “many books have been written on the subject of the Civil War, but we doubt if any of them are of deeper interest than Life in Dixie During the War.” In 1898, the Veteran published this review:
“While possessing all the charms of romance, it is a recital of facts concerning the war, which occurred in the heart of the Confederacy. Written in the first person, it has unusual vividness of style. The author's descriptions are truly remarkable. The reader seems to be living in those days and a witness to the scenes described. Historic facts are brought out regarding the siege of Atlanta which are perhaps found nowhere else. The author spared no pains in preparation of the work. Not the least of its merit is its pure English diction, with unsurpassed pathos in many of its pages. The heroism of men, the daring of boys, and the endurance of women are alike skillfully painted.”
Customer Reviews:
Life in Dixie.......2001-12-28
This is a very well written account of Miss Gay's experiences living near Atlanta during the war, specifically 1864-1865. It is a very different account of the war in that it does not review battles or troop movements. It does give an insight into the common Southern attitudes concerning the North, slavery, the War and Sherman. If you "read between the lines", you gain an understanding of prevailing attitudes from many things she does not say. An example of this is her brother whom she writes extensively and very affectionately. What she never plainly states or even casually refers, is that he is a half-brother. Family is extremely important to her and the fact that she does not share the same father with her siblings has no bearing on her affection towards them. Miss Gay was in her mid-thirties during the war. This is an adult civilian perspective of the war between the States.
Historically Accurate.......1999-06-22
A very touching account of life, by a woman who lived in Atlanta, during the Civil War. The book is historically accurate, but it does reflect the Southern attitude of the period. A very good book for a serious student of Southern History. Not for everyone.
Average customer rating:
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A Blockaded Family: Life in Southern Alabama During the Civil War
Parthenia Hague
Manufacturer: University Alabama Press
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Alabama: The History of a Deep South State
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Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, Revised Edition
ASIN: 0817352759 |
Book Description
A memorable and fascinating glimpse into the Civil War home front.
Parthenia Hague experienced the Civil War while employed as a schoolteacher on a plantation near Eufaula, Alabama. This book recounts how a frightened and war-weary household dealt with privations during the blockade imposed on the South by the federal navy. The memoir of Parthenia Hague is a detailed look at the ingenious industry and self-sufficiency employed by anxious citizens as the northern army closed in.
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese is Eleonore Raoul Professor of Humanities at Emory University and author of a number of volumes, including Within the Plantation Household; Black and White Women of the Old South.
Average customer rating:
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Life During the Civil War (Fsp Middle School)
Manufacturer: Frank Schaffer Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0764700162 |
Average customer rating:
- Brief yet comprehensive
- Good for any Age
|
Life in the South During the Civil War (Way People Live)
James P. Reger
Manufacturer: Lucent Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1560063335 |
Customer Reviews:
Brief yet comprehensive.......2006-06-05
I recently discovered Lucent's "The Way People Live" series through my public library, and I have to say I'm glad I did. This is the first volume I've actually read; if they're all as good, they should be found in every library, and on the bookshelves of every history-loving home, in the country. Despite his title, author Reger actually gives much of his attention to the way Southerners lived *before* the War. He covers every level of Southern society, from planters through the "yeoman farmer" on down to slaves and "po' white trash," and while he necessarily does so rather briefly, he manages to cover a lot of ground and even impart some information I had never seen before (which is always the biggest test of a nonfiction volume to anyone who has spent 40 years studying this very period and the eras immediately before and after!). One thing I especially like about his treatment is that he's not politically correct and has the good sense to report that slave-owning Southerners thoroughly understood how, according to one quote he offers, "A Negro's life is too valuable to be risked...Do not kill the goose that lays the golden egg." Many revisionist historians would have you believe that all Negroes were treated brutally in slavery days, but Reger states that "more than 70% of the [former slaves] interviewed [in the 1930's by the WPA] reported dominantly positive recollections of their time in captivity."
The book treats its subject in a vivid and interesting way, admitting to the faults as well as the positive aspects of a vanished system and bolstering its assertions with many quotes from primary sources, as well as dozens of black-and-white illustrations, both photographic and otherwise. There is also a brief bibliography and a good index. Though seriously curious students will need to seek out more books to get a broader picture of the time and place, this is definitely a good one to start with, and should prove useful to adults too.
Good for any Age.......2002-09-14
Although a YA book, this is a perfect book for anyone wanting to know about daily life in the south during the Civil War. It is part of a series called The Way People Live, which focuses on "cultural pockets" which share the distinction of having "been viewed before but not completely understood". The author believes that removing stereotypes, both positive or negative, is the only way to really understand any culture.
The emphasis in this Lucent series is on the personal aspects of life in the culture that is being examined and "seeing humans as victims, heroes, and onlookers". To do this, the book uses a large number and wide variety of primary quotations and illustrations.
Everyday Southern life is examined in this book, along with the effects of the Civil War on daily life. Plantation life is described and the roles of the men, the women, and the slaves on them are explained.
The author then brings his focus to the vast majority of those in the South during the Civil War -- the poor and the middle class. The men and boys of these classes comprised most of the Confederate Army, not the wealthy.
A good resource for those wishing to delve into the culture of the Civil War South.
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- Government By the People, Basic Version (21st Edition)
- History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
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- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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Everyday Life in Colonial America
Everyday Life in the Wild West
The Reshaping of Everyday Life: 1790-1840 (Everyday Life in America)
