The Killer Angels

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This novel reveals more about the Battle of Gettysburg than any piece of learned nonfiction on the same subject. Michael Shaara's account of the three most important days of the Civil War features deft characterizations of all of the main actors, including Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Buford, and Hancock. The most inspiring figure in the book, however, is Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, whose 20th Maine regiment of volunteers held the Union's left flank on the second day of the battle. This unit's bravery at Little Round Top helped turned the tide of the war against the rebels. There are also plenty of maps, which convey a complete sense of what happened July 1-3, 1863. Reading about the past is rarely so much fun as on these pages.

Book Description

"My favorite historical novel...A superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant."
JAMES M. McPHERSON
Author of BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM
Winner of the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for fiction
In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty were also the casualties of war. Unique, sweeping, an unforgettable, THE KILLER ANGELS is a dramatic re-creation of the battleground for America's destiny.

Customer Reviews:

Audible unabridged version is fantastic.......2007-10-22

"The Killer Angels" is to Civil War biographies and histories as dessert is to dinner. It's easy to digest and a sheer pleasure. Shaara brings two-dimensional historical characters to life. While technically fiction, the text is very loyal to the historical facts. I took on Killer Angels while in middle of Shelby Foote's trilogy, and Shaara did not appear to deviate from anything in Foote's "Stars in their Courses" account.

This is excellent writing that can be enjoyed by anyone, but those familiar with Gettysburg will have the advantage of context. Also, Civil War readers will enjoy characters that they've long read about coming to life in these pages, particularly Lee, Longstreet, and Pickett.

I was first exposed to the Killer Angels book ten years ago and of course saw the movie when it came out. This time, I listened to the unabridged Audible audio version. Stephen Hoye was excellent, mastering the (many!) accents as well as the moment.

The Little Round Top and Pickett's Charge.......2007-10-13

Sometimes, I work backwards. In this instance, I, once again, saw the movie before reading the book. As pleased as I was with the film adaptation, director Ronald Maxwell's "Gettysburg," I was doubly impressed with the source novel "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara.

This was easily the finest piece of historical fiction that I have ever read. The author really did his homework. Many of the military commands and speeches contained in the book are supported by the historical record.
The novel is so clearly written that the motion picture screenplay adaptation simply repeated large portions of the book verbatim. That in itself is a rare accomplishment since Hollywood typically eviscerates good books when scripts are being adapted.

The details of the three day battle at Gettysburg are accurately portrayed and readers can gain valuable insights into the character of the principals, Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Armistead, Hancock, Buford, Chamberlain and so many others. Shaara also provides one with an understanding of how armies take the field, march great distances, struggle to secure control of favorable terrain, scout enemy movements and try to decipher ambiguous data before committing to battle.

This is truly an outstanding book which richly deserves all of the praise that it has received. I read this book more than a decade and a half ago and I have not forgotten it.

The Battle of Gettysburg.......2007-10-12

Michael Shaara's modern classic "The Killer Angels" is about the famous Civil War battle at Gettysburg. It is the most important battle of the war because it is generally acknowledged as the turning point in the war for the Union. The book is told through Confederate Generals Longstreet and Lee, and Union soldier Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. This novel is the tragic three days struggle between thousands of Americans not over the question of right to succeed or even slavery, but (if General Lee is to be believed) who's side God was on. It is telling that by the third year it is just a contest to win, not really about causes anymore.

The characters are well presented. Lee is the old guard; a gentlemen who is willing to fight (and maybe die) for honor, his own, his state's (Virginia) and egotistically, for honor's sake, which leads to bad decisions on his part. Longstreet is presented as a man ahead of his time, a man who favors defensive strategy that may have worked better than Lee's straight ahead offense. Longstreet would have appreciated World War One's methods of trench fighting. History dose bare him out as trenches were used later in the war. Lee and Longstreet's continuous argument over strategy fuels most of the novel's moral center. And finally Colonel Chamberlain is the model citizen turned soldier. He is really the character most easily identifiable by the common reader. He is us basically, whose eyes the prism of action is passed through and explained by.

The action is intense. The bravery and danger of the wild Battle of Little Round Top is immediate and exciting, the best part of the novel. And by contrast there is the depressing and fatal Pickett's Charge, the straw that broke the Confederate Army for the war. It is so heart wrenching that, though well written, is still hard to read because of the futility of it.

While this is a work of fiction, many historians use Shaara's book as a guide to the Gettysburg battle and it is of interest to anyone who likes war-adventure novels, deep characters, and well researched histories.

If you have the slightest interest in the Civil War, don't fail to read the late Michael Shaara's book "The Killer Angels".......2007-10-04

If you have the slightest interest in the Civil War, don't fail to read the late Michael Shaara's book "The Killer Angels". It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1974.

For some reason this book had never crossed my path. It wasn't until Father's Day this year that I was even aware of its existence. My 27 year old son gave me a DVD that had both Gods and Generals and Gettysburg on it. In reading the jacket of the DVD I saw the movie was based on this book. After watching the movie, I headed off to the library. I was not disappointed.

This volume shows both the courage and determination of the Union and Confederate soldiers. It examines the story from both viewpoints. You are told the story through the key leadership of the battle. You will read about Robert E. Lee. You will learn what his decisions were based on. You will see why he was so beloved by his army. The book allows you to be present as Lee struggles with decision after decision from his headquarters. You can feel the frustration of Longstreet as he tries to convince Lee that defense is a better choice. You will get a picture of the flamboyant Pickett. You will feel Lee's and Longstreet's frustration with J.E.B. Stuart. I met a new hero in the book - Joshua Lawrence Chamberlin as I read about the 20th Maine Regiment and Chamberlain who with a bayonet charge on Little Big Top held the end of the Union line. Another new hero I encountered was General John Buford. You will experience his anguish as he decides to engage Rebel forces. He knows that he was seriously outnumbered. He is determined to save the only high ground in the area.

I was emotionally involved in the book from the beginning to the end. This is the book that blurs the line between historical fiction and creative non-fiction. It is simply great reading. While the movie was good, the book is great. Michael Shaara had the vision, did the research, and wrote one of the best books ever. Thank you!

Glorifies Battle, but Does So Compellingly. . . .......2007-10-01

I am not a civil war buff, but I enjoy historical fiction, and I decided to read this book for its Pulitzer Prize and what it might teach me about the Battle of Gettysburg. On these fronts it delivered as advertised. Although the book is about 90% brooding and waiting for battle and only 10% battle, the writing is compelling enough to hold one's interest through the brooding and to teach me more than I ever knew about the strategies, generals, turning points, blunders and significance of Gettysburg --- or at least the author's views on these points.

Nonetheless, I found myself consistently detatched from the characters and the action. The story is told exclusively from the perspective of the officers in the battle and, for the most part, from that of the southern officers. This is not to say it has a southern bias; indeed blame is placed on Southern hero Lee and the book elevates Southern "scoundrel" Longstreet. It is just that, ultimately, I was not capable of sympathy or admiration for their bravery, honor and nobility, in which the book invests heavily. My own views about slavery and the south are just too strong. Its like reading about the qualms and struggles of German aristocrats in the Nazi army. Interesting, but they are so fundamentally on the wrong side that neither admirable traits nor understanding of their perspective can produce empathy, redemption or even forgiveness. And, as to the horrors of war and soldiering, the gritty, more soldier oriented view of, say, a Cold Mountain, remained foremost in my mind.

Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War

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A Needed Corrective
Last Battle?
A needed corrective to the Reconstruction story
Mississippi Burning
America's Own Terrorists

Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War
Nicholas Lemann
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374248559
Release Date: 2006-09-05

Book Description

A century after Appomattox, the civil rights movement won full citizenship for black Americans in the South. It should not have been necessary: by 1870 those rights were set in the Constitution. This is the story of the terrorist campaign that took them away.

Nicholas Lemann opens his extraordinary new book with a riveting account of the horrific events of Easter 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana, where a white militia of Confederate veterans-turned-vigilantes attacked the black community there and massacred hundreds of people in a gruesome killing spree. This was the start of an insurgency that changed the course of American history: for the next few years white Southern Democrats waged a campaign of political terrorism aiming to overturn the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and challenge President Grant’ssupport for the emergent structures of black political power. The remorseless strategy of well-financed “White Line” organizations was to create chaos and keep blacks from voting out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Redemption is the first book to describe in uncompromising detail this organized racial violence, which reached its apogee in Mississippi in 1875.

Lemann bases his devastating account on a wealth of military records, congressional investigations, memoirs, press reports, and the invaluable papers of Adelbert Ames, the war hero from Maine who was Mississippi’s governor at the time. When Ames pleaded with Grant for federal troops who could thwart the white terrorists violently disrupting Republican political activities, Grant wavered, and the result was a bloody, corrupt election in which Mississippi was

“redeemed”—that is, returned to white control.

Redemption makes clear that this is what led to the death of Reconstruction—and of the rights encoded in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. We are still living with the consequences.

Customer Reviews:

A Needed Corrective.......2007-04-11

Nicholas Lemann's book "Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War," focuses on mostly forgotten and often sanitized versions of specific incidents that marked the end of Reconstruction and the regaining by White Southerns of state and local government institutions leading to Jim Crow and Segregation that continued for another 90 years or so. The book, relatively brief, examines in detail several incidents, one in Lousiana, the others in Mississippi where local vigalante groups seized control from local black officials through intimidation and massacres. It is perhaps not coincidential that the worst offenses took place in Mississippi, and perhaps some sort of rough justice that in exchange Mississippi remained for decades afterwards on the lowest rung of the ladder among the states in nearly every social and economic ranking.

Much of the book is through the eyes of one Adelbert Ames, a Union general, senator and governor of Mississippi, as revealed in the copius correspondence with his wife, Blanche Butler, who most of the time remained at home in the North. Because of weariness of the part of the North, insufficient troops, deliberate foot-dragging by US officials sympathetic to the South, and indecisiveness on the part of President Grant, these events from 1874-76 were allowed to precede with little intervention and protection of Black citizens. In effect, the withdrawal of Northern troops in 1877, the result of a compromise that ended the electoral stalemate in the Hayes/Tilden presidential election of 1876, overturned a major achievement of the Civil War, namely full citizenship and voting privileges for former African slaves. The result was another dark stain on American history and our pretenses of a just and equitable society where everyone has the chance to be president.

Because of its brevity, the book suffers from a lack of context of how overall Reconstruction had proceeded in the South, it's weaknesses and its victories. The book also would have been improved through a map, particularly Mississippi and the various places where the rampages of the vigantes took place. Another improvement would have been photographs of the several colorful characters portrayed. But all in all, for a brief look at an important moment in American history, the book is highly recommended.

Last Battle?.......2007-03-14

The subtitle is a little bit of a cheat, for the Civil War was long over by the time the massacres of 1875 began, but after reading Nicholas Lemann's book on the failure of Reconstruction and the life of Civil War General Adelbert Ames, I can see why he decided to bend the truth and capture the huge Civil War market.

he shows how JFK was a patsy to the Southern Conservative myth of Reconstruction and how, in PROFILES IN COURAGE (1956) Kennedy included Lucius Lamar of Mississippi as an avatar of courage, when in actuality he was a liar and a bigot and was personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Mississippi freedmen. What was JFK thinking? Well, as Lemann points out, this was not an anomaly in Kennedy's otherwise antiracist public profile. Indeed it was part and parcel of his curiously suspect voting record and public stand towards the race question. It was as though, in the polarized 1950s, he had to keep the Southern Democrats happy in order to win their support for the campaign he saw coming his way. PROFILES IN COURAGE dismisses Adelbert Ames, Lemann's (admittedly flawed) hero, as a mere carpetbagger, not worthy of living in Mississippi, a `foreigner' and an Abolitionist. The strange thing is that, he lived so long (at age 98, he was the oldest surviving Civil War officer) his daughter Blanche was on hand to shame Kennedy into agreeing to change future editions of PROFILES. Then her years of disappointment began, for even though Senator, and then President Kennedy, had agreed to re-research Reconstruction, he never did, and when she kept bugging him he enlisted the help of her grandson, "Paper Lion" George Plimpton, to call his honorable kinswoman off his back. Of course all of these people had incredible privilege and wealth.

A needed corrective to the Reconstruction story.......2007-02-24

Having lived in the South for the first 21 years of my life, I can attest to the staying power of the myths of Reconstruction and the succeeding era which I was taught to call Redemption.

The central motif of these myths is that of courageous, heroic whites finally standing up to a brutal Northern occupation, but turning to violence only when physically threatened.

Some prominent historians -- Eric Foner in particular -- have been forthright and comprehensive in setting out the true facts. In my readings, there have been two aspects still missing from such large-scale works. First of all, a visceral, detailed accounting of the intensity of white-on-black violence has been needed. Second, we have lacked a nuanced, detailed biography of Adelbert Ames, perhaps the best exemplar of the promise interracial cooperation held for the South.

In "Redemption", journalist Nicholas Lemann makes an attempt to remedy both these insufficiencies in a narrative aimed at the non-specialist reader. Instead of giving us a comprehensive study of how integrated southern state governments were driven from power, Lemann chooses instead to focus primarily on the single example of Mississippi, with some inclusion of parallel events in neighboring Louisiana. And the story of Reconstruction Mississippi cannot successfully be understood without considering the career of New Englander Adelbert Ames, a Union veteran who became first the state's senator and then governor during this period.

Lemann recounts instance upon instance of politically-inspired and deadly violence that steadily drove Republican voters, especially blacks, from the polls. While many leading white Democrats maintained deniability and claimed that such attacks were rare and always provoked by the other side, and while President Grant's commitment to federal protection decisively waned, Governor Ames cast off his naivete and tried to counter with what forces he could muster. But without timely federal intervention, this proved an impossible task. Ames was finally forced to face facts, and he resigned the governorship and left the state for good. The Solid South was born with violence as midwife.

Lemann's choices mean that he needs to do three things well. First, with respect to bringing home the intensity, pervasiveness, and comprehensive effects of the violence, Lemann is especially convincing, at least within Mississippi (and to a less significant extent Louisiana). Second, his incorporation of an Ames biography is in itself valuable and multi-faceted. But it doesn't serve as a full-fledged biography due to the author's chronological boundaries. We do learn of Ames' background and his significant relationships with others, most notably his wife and father-in-law; these are important in understanding Ames' behavior in Mississippi. But for Ames' life after Mississippi, Lemann takes only a cursory wrap-up approach.

Finally, we should expect Lemann to do a convincing job of integrating these two intersecting narratives. In this he is largely successful. But there are moments when his attention to the details of Ames' life, while welcome to this reader, may yet seem only remotely relevant to the larger story of the Redemption era.

In 1933 Adelbert Ames became the last Civil War officer to die. The myths of Redemption have lived on long after, and Lemann's book is a significant contribution to puncturing those myths and establishing the truth.

Mississippi Burning.......2007-02-09

This is a story on how government failed, how the civil rights of freed slaves and blacks became a political playground of hate and deceit and how victory on the battlefield was lost to thugs & cowards. It clearly shows how history can be manipulated by the criminals who ushered in a sordid era of Jim Crow laws while others looked away.

Author Nicholas Lemann does a magnificent job in detailing the death of Reconstruction through white terrorism in Mississippi in the 1870s, which emboldened the white racists throughout the south to institute what became known as the "Mississippi Plan" of intimidation and murder to seize power in every government institution and to kick blacks back into servitude.

The heroes are the victims - the blacks and some white Republicans - who boldly stood alone while the mobs seized control in a revolution of aversion, and then afterwards wrote the articles and books, whose key lies are still being taught as factual history today.

You will be angered as Lemann explains as a reporter how Reconstruction was lost. But then look around, and realize that the subtitle, The Last Battle of the Civil War, may be incorrect. Unless this country confronts the harsh realities of the past, the last battle of the Civil War has yet to be fought, or won.

America's Own Terrorists.......2007-02-04

In this short historical account, Nicholas Lemann tells the disturbing story of how ex-confederates in Mississippi brought about the end of Reconstruction in 1875 through an orchestrated campaign of savagery and deception.

The "Mississippi Plan" employed an ugly and brutal pattern: when freed slaves attempted to exercise their political rights--by convening political rallies, becoming candidates for office or simply trying to vote--southern whites responded with hellish violence, not merely fighting the freed slaves, but coldly murdering them in front of friends or family or, worse, hunting them down if they fled.

To justify their heinous conduct, the whites invented an emotionally laden cover story that, to this very day, resonates among the American public. In their view, the violence was necessary to forestall imminent "Negro uprisings," prevent rape and pillage by brutish and bestial blacks, and redeem the honor of the south from the depredation of northern carpetbaggers who seized control of the political system by duping or bribing the newly freed slaves.

The key to the Mississippi Plan was the public relations tactic of presenting the organized slaughter of blacks as random local incidents, a tactic that discouraged President Grant from sending federal troops to secure the rights of the newly enfranchised citizens. Absent this safeguard, the intimidation worked, and the Democrats won control of key offices, despite significant Republican majorities among registered or potential voters. With the outcome of the presidential election of 1876 in dispute, the nation embraced the "Compromise of 1877" in which the Democrats agreed to let Rutherford Hayes become president and the Republicans agreed to the removal of the remaining federal troops from the South. Reconstruction was over.

Much of this tale is told through the eyes of Adelbert Ames, a Northerner and celebrated Union Army general who was elected Governor of Mississippi by the multitude of new black voters. Sometimes the book reads like a biography of Ames. Only at the end does Lemann step back from the detailed account and provide the larger picture of how the "Mississippi Plan" became the blueprint for the entire Southern strategy to end Reconstruction and how the nation shamefully abandoned its commitment to true citizenship for blacks.

As I read "Redemption," a profound sense of disgust and outrage rose within me. So horrific, repulsive, and needless was the conduct of the Southern Democrats that, at times, I felt Lemann must have been omitting facts that would have balanced the story. But this is precisely Lemann's point: when Southerners today celebrate the honor and courage of Dixie, they are endorsing a fiction that was invented in 1875. There was no honor, only terror of helpless black victims.

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)

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Great read with a Northern bias
Too much, too small
Superb account of the civil war!
Best 1 Volume History of the War
Finest book on the Civil War

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)
James M. McPherson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 019516895X

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Published in 1988 to universal acclaim, this single-volume treatment of the Civil War quickly became recognized as the new standard in its field. James M. McPherson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, impressively combines a brisk writing style with an admirable thoroughness. He covers the military aspects of the war in all of the necessary detail, and also provides a helpful framework describing the complex economic, political, and social forces behind the conflict. Perhaps more than any other book, this one belongs on the bookshelf of every Civil War buff.

Book Description

Now featuring a new Afterword by the author, this handy paperback edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom is without question the definitive one-volume history of the Civil War. James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War including the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. From there it moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering by each side, the politics, and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson's new views on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory. The book's title refers to the sentiments that informed both the Northern and Southern views of the conflict. The South seceded in the name of that freedom of self-determination and self-government for which their fathers had fought in 1776, while the North stood fast in defense of the Union founded by those fathers as the bulwark of American liberty. Eventually, the North had to grapple with the underlying cause of the war, slavery, and adopt a policy of emancipation as a second war aim. This "new birth of freedom," as Lincoln called it, constitutes the proudest legacy of America's bloodiest conflict. This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty.

Customer Reviews:

Great read with a Northern bias.......2007-10-05

As many others have commented, this is a great one volume history of the Civil war and is easy to read.
The long build up to the firing on Fort Sumter also sets the political context well though I agree with some other reviewers that the narrative is a little thin on the battle sequences. But for a detailed account of the military campaigns to have been included you'd have needed alot more than the 862 pages of this book. So my verdict is that it's as good as it gets for a work of this size.
There's definitely a Northern bias so I'll be reading Shelby Foote's 3 volumes to get a more Southern perspective.
As MacPherson so aptly ends his work the point about the Civil War was that in many ways the secession consisted of a counter-Revolution. Southern Society in fact represented the old, pre-industrial world, mirrored in many parts of Europe at the time, while it was in the North that the real revolution had occurred. My one criticism therefore is that I would have liked to see this theme developed a little more. Was slavery really the central issue which MacPherson makes it or was the war more a clash of competing social visions, with the Southern States' vision more closely resembling that of the Founding Fathers?
With the power of Federal Government increasing daily over our lives this question has more relevance today than it has had in decades.
A great read.

Too much, too small.......2007-09-19

First, prior to reading "Battle Cry for Freedom", I read "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin which encompassed the political aspect of the era. "Team of Rivals" was one of the best books I have read in a while which made "Battle Cry of Freedom" pail in comparison. My saving hope was "Battle Cry of Freedom" would cover more of the war aspect which is done, sort of.

The beauty of this books is its scope in which it covers the war, the politics, daily lifestyles, North and South (I think its focused more on the Union), the economics, the issues and leaders of the era (1850's to 60's). It truly is comprehensive in terms of it being a single volume. To that point, simply the vast amount of information is crammed into the book and much detail is left out. For example, less than 40 pages (out of approx 850 pages) are dedicated to the closing year of the war when Grant took over command of the entire army. Numerous major battles and campaigns took place where a lot of detail was not allotted. I felt the author rushed through this part especially since it being a climatic part of the war. Another example is the assaination of Lincoln (and atteps of cabinet embers) was limited to one paragraph in the approx. 8 page epilogue. So with the ending of the war, the book ended just as abruptly. The book itself was all bones and very little meat. In this respect, this is a good book for one who would like a light, general background on the Civil War and the era. But for those who are truly interested in this American War and the politics, I find there are far better books and one book simply will not suffice.

The book read more or less like a text book (dry) vs. a good novel. There was a review in which someone said "every hear of a movie in which everyone was saying how great a film it was but when you watched it, you scratched your head wondering if you didn't get it cause it wasn't that good to justify the rave over it?" Well my sentiments exactly. This book gets high praise but I failed to see why it was so good. I contemplated putting it down numerous times and being satisfied with reading "Team of Rivals" for the politics and Shelby Foote's trilogy (for the war itself). But I persevered. I did learn a lot for this book, do not get me wrong. But it was a chore to remain interested with the author's style and drudge forward reading on. I probably would not recommend it to a friend but rather the Kern's or Foote's books instead.

Superb account of the civil war!.......2007-08-13

Having read about a quarter into the book so far, I find it a gripping account of the affairs leading up to the American Civil War and the war itself. Being a European I didn't know much about this era of American history (and I'm only beginning to scratch the surface of it!) but it gives a superb insight in what made this war happen and how it progressed. Every aspect of that time is covered: social, economic, political and judicial (my personal favorite) events that shaped the history of the first three quarters of 19th century America. I think this book will be a valuable addition to any one's library who's interested in Amercian history and politics, not just the civil war itself, even though that is of course the main theme of this book. A definite must-buy!

Best 1 Volume History of the War.......2007-08-03

This is simply the best single volume history of the Civil War Era in existence. The book flows exceptionally well, reading almost like a good fiction story rather than nonfiction. Grossly entertaining yet informative, treatment and coverage of the period is pretty well balanced. Although I disagree with McPherson's analysis that a Northern Political Revolution started the war or his contingency theory that at several key instances, had events unfolded differently, the outcome of the south would have been successful in her attempt at permanent disunion. However, it is still the best, and still my favorite one volume history of the era.

Finest book on the Civil War.......2007-07-30

As has been said here before: If you only read one book on the history of the Civil War, make it this book! I never expected such a comprehensive and detailed survey of the political, social and economic forces at play to be contained in this one book. There are few books I buy extra copies of to pass around to friends, but this is one that has earned that rank. The only other I can think of at this time is Unintended Consequences by John Ross. Don't pass this one by either.

Average customer rating:

Who are you Kidding?!
Good history, poor love story.
Outstanding! Simply Outstanding!
A Gem The Restless Can Relate To
Interesting perspective changes

The Widow of the South
Robert Hicks
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0446697435

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Before the battle begins, Carrie's house is commandeered for a field hospital and all normal life is suspended. Carrie is anything but normal, however. She has buried three children, has two living children she pays little attention to, has turned the running of the house over to her slave, Mariah, and spends her time dressed in black walking around in the dark or lying down lamenting her loss. She is a morbid figure from the outset but becomes less so as the novel progresses. The death going on all around her shakes her out of her torpor, but death is definitely her comfort zone.

One of the soldiers who is treated at the house is Zachariah Cashwell, who loses his leg when Carrie sends him to surgery rather than watch him die. They are inextricably bound in some kind of a spiritual dance from then on. Their reasons for being drawn to each other are inexplicable, apparently, because they remain unexplained, and when Cashwell tells Carrie he loves her, she beats him nearly to death because she loves him too. At least, that is the reason Hicks gives. He violates that first caveat given to all writers: "show us, don't tell us." There is doubtless something deeply flawed in Carrie and screamingly symbolic about her behavior; it is surely elusive. Too bad, because Carrie was a real person whom Hicks lauds for her compassion and ability to grieve without end. Then, he throws in this gratuitous "love story" and confuses the issue. Carrie's relationship with her husband and children remains unexamined. Hicks is better at describing death and "the stink of war" than he is at life. If you read War and Peace and loved all the war parts and were bored senseless by the peace parts, this is your cup of tea. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

In an Author's Note at the end of his book The Widow of the South, Robert Hicks tells us that "when Oscar Wilde made his infamous tour of America in 1882, he told his hosts that his itinerary should include a visit to 'sunny Tennessee to meet the Widow McGavock, the high priestess of the temple of dead boys.'"Carrie McGavock, The Widow of the South, did indeed take it upon herself to grieve the loss of so many young men in the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, which took place on November 30, 1864.Nine thousand men lost their lives that day.She and her husband John eventually re-buried on their own land 1,481 Confederate soldiers killed at Franklin, when the family that owned the land on which the original shallow graves had been dug decided to plow it under and put it into cultivation.Before the battle begins, Carrie's house is commandeered for a field hospital and all normal life is suspended.Carrie is anything but normal, however.She has buried three children, has two living children she pays little attention to, has turned the running of the house over to her slave, Mariah, and spends her time dressed in black walking around in the dark or lying down lamenting her loss.She is a morbid figure from the outset but becomes less so as the novel progresses.The death going on all around her shakes her out of her torpor, but death is definitely her comfort zone.One of the soldiers who is treated at the house is Zachariah Cashwell, who loses his leg when Carrie sends him to surgery rather than watch him die.They are inextricably bound in some kind of a spiritual dance from then on.Their reasons for being drawn to each other are inexplicable, apparently, because they remain unexplained, and when Cashwell tells Carrie he loves her, she beats him nearly to death because she loves him too.At least, that is the reason Hicks gives.He violates that first caveat given to all writers: "show us, don't tell us."There is doubtless something deeply flawed in Carrie and screamingly symbolic about her behavior; it is surely elusive.Too bad, because Carrie was a real person whom Hicks lauds for her compassion and ability to grieve without end.Then, he throws in this gratuitous "love story" and confuses the issue.Carrie's relationship with her husband and children remains unexamined. Hicks is better at describing death and "the stink of war" than he is at life.If you read War and Peace and loved all the war parts and were bored senseless by the peace parts, this is your cup of tea. --Valerie Ryan

Customer Reviews:

Who are you Kidding?!.......2007-08-10

The historical portions of the novel are researched and present a clear picture of the battle of Franklin and the futility of the Civil War as it was being pressed by the South at this juncture. The war was essentially lost after the fall of Atlanta and the graphic and accurate description of the needless deaths of so many on this battlefield cause pain to me even after over 150 years.
The writer lost me with his "romance" between the two main characters. I could have accepted an attraction, magnetism, fascination, etc., between them. But having Carrie crawling around on a dirt floor of a cellar exchanging a kiss with someone seriously unwashed and whose breath had been described two or three pages before as having the smell of rotten hay?! I doubt it.
This could have been a great book.

Good history, poor love story........2007-08-01

THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH BOOK REVIEW
By Mary Olivera

On the eve of November 30, 1864, Carrie McGavock was languishing in her home over the deaths of three of her five children, unprepared for a battle that would take place at her doorsteps the next day. She would be abruptly awakened from her depression to come face to face with the realities of a war she did not care for and had wanted to hide from. Instead, she found within herself a strength she did not know she had and became a person with a purpose.

"The Widow of the South" by Robert Hicks is the fictional account of the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, one of the last battles of the Civil War, and its aftermath. Confederate General John Hood, against the advice of fellow officers, marched his army against the well-fortified forces of Union Major General John Schofield into the town of Franklin, Tennessee. Confederate soldiers charged through about two miles of open field to be slaughtered by the entrenched Union forces. By the end of the day over 9,000 soldiers, both Union and Confederate were dead or wounded on the fields, including six Confederate generals.

The story centers on Carrie McGavock, whose home was commandeered into a field hospital for the Confederate soldiers. The book highlights Carrie's efforts to nurse the wounded soldiers in her home and later her efforts to re-inter over one thousand Confederate soldiers in her family's cemetery. Because of these efforts and the fact that she maintained this privately owned cemetery for the rest of her life, Carrie became nationally known as "The Widow of the South".

The book's style is very vivid and eloquent. The author relies on flashbacks from different peoples' perspectives to take the reader through the story. I enjoyed this approach but others may find it difficult to follow. It is apparent that Hicks did his research before writing this novel. His scenes of the battlefield were especially grim and his anti-war stance is evident. The description of the death of a young Confederate soldier is difficult to forget:
"I watched a little rebel boy, couldn't have been more than 12 years old, suffocate under the weight of the dead piled atop him. Suffocated. I had never considered the possibility. Only his head stuck through the pile, and I thought for a second that he was looking at me and trying to say something, only he didn't have the air to do it. He couldn't breathe, and God knows where he'd been shot. His jaws moved, and his eyes welled with tears. The last I saw of him he was closing his eyes just as another body landed on him covering him completely. It was as if a wave had crashed over him, and he'd been pulled out to sea." (Page 84)

Mr. Hicks pays a great amount of detail to Carnton House, Carrie's home. It's only fitting since he has served on the Board of Historic Carnton Plantation and wrote the book to bring the Battle of Franklin, Carrie McGavock, and Carnton House to national attention. Some readers may feel that more information about the Civil War should have been included, but this is Carrie's story, and it wasn't important to her.

I felt that the book could have worked better as non-fiction. I enjoyed reading the Author's Note and would like to see that fleshed out more, especially why Carrie felt that she had to re-inter the soldiers' bodies on her land. Still, historical fiction lovers, especially Civil War aficionados, will enjoy the tale.

My next issue was the "love story" between Carrie and Sergeant Zachariah Cashwell, a patient in her home. Although the romance was important to the novel, the reason why remained unclear.

The Widow of the South is a tribute to Carrie McGavock's strength of character. It shows how a person so unprepared for the horrors that suddenly surrounded her persevered and found a purpose for her life. Carrie selflessly sacrificed her own life in order to honor the memory of the men who died outside her doorsteps.

Outstanding! Simply Outstanding!.......2007-07-26

I would give this one 6 stars if possible. Robert Hicks has written a wonderful book. He intertwines fact and fiction in a manner that will hold your interest from beginning to end. I have been to Franklin, Tennessee and to Carnton, but will never look at them the same way. This work is based on a true story about a remarkable woman with passion unequaled; a passion for the dead and those facing death. You will ride an emotional roller coaster throughout this book. I have read Civil War books for many, many years and can truthfully say, "This is one of the best."

A Gem The Restless Can Relate To .......2007-07-13

My daughter and I picked up several books a few months back when Border's was having a buy 3 get 1 free sale. Ky picked this one out and I figured that simply based on the cover I'd give it a trial read. Wow, I did more than a chapter! I crawled into this novel and couldn't believe that it was from a first time writer who is not a historian. Hicks focuses on the human element of the Civil War which is not far from Gone With The Wind, but with far more depth and less dramatic angst. The story of Carrie McGavock and her place during and well after the Battle of Franklin is told from many different perspectives, with multi characters telling the story. None of the carnage of war is lost here, but more importantly neither is its long term effects on the individual. Carrie is a real person and her feelings, short-comings, fears, and revelations are moving and timeless. As a women who often feels lost in the world, I could relate to this brave women who lived and died a century and a half before me. Her reasons may have been odd to her contemporaries or even to those who read the story now, but they were not lost on me. I cannot recommend this book enough if for any reason than to learn about the Battle of Franklin. Robert Hicks should be commended on his work and research and most importantly his preservation of this story and these real American Heroes. As a historian my final opinion is, at the very least it can inspire more interest or study of an important time in our nation's history.

Interesting perspective changes.......2007-07-09

Having lived in Thompsons Station, TN, I was familiar with the Carnton Plantation and the "lay of the land". The style of this book was different from any I've read previously. I was first annoyed by how the perspective kept changing back-and-forth from the point of view of Carrie and Zacariah. As the book progressed however, I enjoyed and anticipated what the other's perspective was going to be as I was reading the first account. It was an "interesting" book.

Average customer rating:

AN EYE-OPENING CARD IS DEALT
Sad, sad, sad
Silly self-serious schlock
Barely recognizable as OSC.
Fascinating, interesting, and very unnerving

Empire
Orson Scott Card
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765316110
Release Date: 2006-11-28

Book Description

The American Empire has grown too fast, and the fault lines at home are stressed to the breaking point. The war of words between Right and Left has collapsed into a shooting war, though most people just want to be left alone.

The battle rages between the high-technology weapons on one side, and militia foot-soldiers on the other, devastating the cities, and overrunning the countryside. But the vast majority, who only want the killing to stop and the nation to return to more peaceful days, have technology, weapons and strategic geniuses of their own.

When the American dream shatters into violence, who can hold the people and the government together? And which side will you be on?

Orson Scott Card is a master storyteller, who has earned millions of fans and reams of praise for his previous science fiction and fantasy novels. Now he steps a little closer to the present day with this chilling look at a near future scenario of a new American Civil War.

Customer Reviews:

AN EYE-OPENING CARD IS DEALT.......2007-10-04

CARD IS A PROLIFIC (THANK GOD!) MASTER STORYTELLER. IT'S NOTABLE THAT SEVERAL WELL-WRITTEN REVIEWS IN THIS LIST SEEM TO DENEGRATE THE POLITICAL POLARIZATION INDUCED BY THE PLOT AND STORYLINE, TAGGING IT TO MR. CARD'S POLITICAL ATTITUDES, WHICH HE OPENLY SHARES WITH US IN THE AFTERWORD.

I BELIEVE THAT THIS POLARIZATION WAS AN INTENDED EFFECT, MEANT TO MAKE US ALL OPEN OUR EYES TO THE EVER WIDENING GAP BETWEEN THE POLITICAL EXTREMES NOW OPERANT IN AMERICA. THE CHILLING FACT IS THAT THE STORY COULD BE VERY CLOSE TO A NEAR-FUTURE REALITY, NOTWITHSTANDING THE FUTURISTIC WEAPONRY.

THE BOOK WOULD MAKE AN EXCELLENT MOVIE OR TV DRAMA (HOPEFULLY A SERIES), EXPLORING WHAT WE CAN DO IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY AND LOVE TO RESTORE THE BALANCE NECESSARY FOR THE CONTINUED EXISTANCE OF A FREE NATION AND A FREE PEOPLE.

Sad, sad, sad.......2007-10-02

Orson Scott Card has created some of the most interesting stories of his generation. His list of successes would be the envy of many an other author. And now......this, this, this.....well, story. For one of the most skilled authors in the US, he decides to tell a convulated, inplausable, and thinly veiled political rant. True, he tells it well, but.......jeeez what a waste of talent. Although his previous works will stand alone, the taint surrounding this effort surely saddens all readers that appreciated said previous efforts. Please, OSC, revert to to the old OSC.

Silly self-serious schlock.......2007-09-30

This is just a silly book, whatever your politics. After a promising start featuring a nifty opening action sequence and some interesting if underdeveloped buddy chemistry between the main characters the whole thing goes south in a big way when the "war" begins.

It's actually quite interesting to see some of Card's broad-stroke sociopolitical drama applied to a current day scenario, because it exposes so many of the crutches and weaknesses of so much SF: plot holes filled with improbable technology, deux ex machina in the form of the late introduction of a villan with unlimited wealth and resources, improbably polymath heroes, and ridiculously over-engineered details that add fanboy gee-whiz but break any sense of reality. Such things can be gotten away with in space opera, but are glaring and laughable in a "realistic" current-day fiction.

I wasn't aware until I got to the afterword that the book is based around a video game and was influenced by the TV show "24", which explains a lot of the silliness as the various puzzles, improbable and impractical (but surely flashy-looking) weaponry, and contrived action fit right in to the needs of a shoot-em up. This could have been fun, escapist entertainment if Card wasn't taking the ludicrous proceedings so seriously. Hint: if you have to go on for pages in your afterword trying to convince the reader that something like your story *really could happen*, you probably haven't done a very good job in the storytelling.

Barely recognizable as OSC........2007-09-29

I don't mean to scathe an author I have for so long respected, but given my reaction to this book I don't see how I can do otherwise. On one hand, plot mechanics and the language of the book are blatantly recycled from his Ender series. The obsession with the word "jeesh" and certain actions with .22 pistols are laughable distractions for anyone who's read any other OSC.

The other hand, the more important hand to me, is that Card's language throughout is blatantly offensive to my value system. Card and I have opposite sociopolitical views, which I have known for a long time. That said, I have respected him for years because he always argued his value system in a way that I respect. From reading Card's work in the past, I was able to understand and sympathize with Conservative viewpoints. That said, he abandoned his intellectual approach in this book in favor of cheap shots barely worthy of best seller of the week pulp novels. I had to check the cover every few minutes to make sure it was still an Orson Scott Card book.

The only entertaining parts of the book, which ends in a total fizzle, are the action sequences... which are practically written to go straight to a movie. It's strange, the moment the book goes to an action sequence bizarre sci-fi machines come out of the woodwork. Nothing believable ever happens in the entire book, and the action sequences only serve to drop the credibility of the story.

I don't recognize this author as the man who wrote Ender's Game or Xenocide, two of my favorite books. He spends too much time taking cheap shots at modern pop culture, giving responsibility for a bloody and amoral civil war on absurdly single-minded "progressives" (the word "Progressive" is used in a derogatory fashion the whole book) who are bitter about Gore's loss in 2000, and championing the military much in the style of the Transformers movie to make this anything but a cartoonish joke of a novel. The occasional efforts to lighten this radical right wing blitzkrieg with assertions of right wing wrongdoing are pitiful and forced, quite patronizing.

I have nothing against people of different political persuasions, nothing that would cause me to wish extreme violence upon them, and I know no one who does... on either side of the aisle. This is not about my views as a left leaning American, this is about my views as a human. I'm ashamed of Card right now.

Really, I could go on and on, but I'd rather not. Mr. Card, I expected so much better from you. I'm actually a good bit sad right now.

Fascinating, interesting, and very unnerving.......2007-09-20

Many seem to give this book a negative review solely because the political ideology discussed does not suit them. Mostly this feeling originates from progressives, but also from conservatives. As I write this review I see tags describing this book as "right wing, left wing, right wing rant, and left wing rant".

Like it or not, Card manages to show the idiocy of both the Red and the Blue Staters. That how the Blue States dream of a different result from 2000, and how the Red States want to roll back most of the latest Supreme Court decisions. And how, ultimately, both are utterly insane. Card does it well, if a bit more sympathetically towards the Right.

As a junkie politico and science fiction geek, I enjoyed what in my mind felt like a mostly plausible breakdown in America. It was done realistically, and relatively fairly. There are some silly sci-fi death rays but the underlying idea is solid. I would have loved to see this book be fleshed out as a possible two parter or a trilogy because many characters are not completely developed, but it gets the job done.

If you have an open mind, and are not offended at having your ideas and core beliefs tested, read this book. If not, don't bother--you will see it as a personal attack against your way of life, which is exactly the point that Card makes about how easy it can ultimately be in fragmenting our society along political lines.

The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939

Average customer rating:

España: An economic miracle in today's Europe!
Just the Facts
Detailed examination of the Spanish Civil War
Dress Rehearsal
Good-but the Bias shows through

The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
Antony Beevor
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 014303765X

Book Description

A fresh and acclaimed account of the Spanish Civil War by the bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Fall Of Berlin 1945

To mark the 70th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War's outbreak, Antony Beevor has written a completely updated and revised account of one of the most bitter and hard-fought wars of the twentieth century. With new material gleaned from the Russian archives and numerous other sources, this brisk and accessible book (Spain's #1 bestseller for twelve weeks), provides a balanced and penetrating perspective, explaining the tensions that led to this terrible overture to World War II and affording new insights into the war—its causes, course, and consequences.

Customer Reviews:

España: An economic miracle in today's Europe!.......2007-10-01

Interested in understanding today's western world? this might be the book to start the quest... A miracle in Europe, no doubt, España didn't turn around its economy by just watching, but by huge ammounts of work and sacrifice. El Generalisimo Francisco Franco might have been the smartest leader in those days in Europe... perhaps he knew how to wait...

Just the Facts.......2007-09-13

I bought this book because I felt the need to learn something about the background to Rebecca Pawel's novels. Now I understand something of the genesis of brutal hatred between the two halves of the Spanish population of 1940. Truly in this war everyone's ideals were betrayed.

One complaint. A map of the historic regions of Spain would have made sense of the constant references to Aragon, Estremadura, etc.

Detailed examination of the Spanish Civil War.......2007-07-08

Antony Beevor again undertakes a highly researched, detailed and thorough examination of the highly complex Spanish Civil War. Worth buying for anyone with an interest or for those students of history.

Dress Rehearsal.......2007-06-04

This is a fine, well-balanced study of the Spanish Civil War; its origins, the military course of the conflict, the developments on both the Nationalist and Republican sides, and the War's immediate aftermath.

Whatever the outcome of the War might have been, it would have been (and was) a disaster for the country, and it is fundamental to an understanding of Spain's place in modern Europe.

I do not think that the author takes side or neglects either: he is critical of both, adopting a realist approach about the character of Republican Spain rather than a romantic one. This book contains no rose-tinted view of the type of Spain that might have emerged in the event of a Republican victory.

The Spanish Civil War was important as it cast a reflection on wider European politics of the time: the rise of fascist power, the caution and fear of the USSR, and the cynicism of the British. No country shines brightly in this. Indeed, one can understand Churchill's concerns about how readily the British ruling classes might have cooperated with German invaders after studying their reactions to events in Spain.

The most famous work on the Spanish Civil War is perhaps Hugh Thomas's huge tome. Beevor's book is about half as long and has been updated recently. So, although Thomas's work is still well worth a read, Beevor's book might be more manageable.

G Rodgers

Good-but the Bias shows through.......2007-05-22

While this is a generally commendable book, and pulls a great amount of information from 1st hand accounts, scrutinized histories, and analysis of new archival information, Beevor lets slip an occasional anti-Traditionalist bias. He seems to accept that digging up corpses and desecrating graves was an acceptable practice, and that much of what the left did was necessary to "modernize" devotional Catholics.

I am not convinced that devotional religious people are backwards, nor do they need modernizing. Much of the Carlist response to the blasphemies of the left, and eventually Franco's taking up traditional Catholicism seems to be a logical and justified response to a violent assault on religion.

Still the book is very good, needs another edit if it goes into another publication, and could use better maps. Completely useful, if one takes note of the slight bias of the author.

The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864

Average customer rating:

Excellent military history
The Overland Series
The Wilderness Campaign
Excellent Narrative of a Bloody and Confusing Battle
Maybe The Best Book on the Complicated battle of The Wilderness

The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864
Gordon C. Rhea
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0807118737

Book Description

Fought in a tangled forest fringing the south bank of the Rapidan River, the Battle of the Wilderness marked the initial engagement in the climactic months of the Civil War in Virginia, and the first encounter between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. In an exciting narrative, Gordon c. Rhea provides the consummate recounting of that conflict of May 5 and 6, 1864, which ended with high casualties on both sides but no clear victor. With its balanced analysis of events and people, command structures and strategies, The Battle of the Wilderness is operational history as it should be written.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent military history.......2007-01-25

I have to be honest, I hadn't read a military history book in a while because many are bland or don't have enough maps or are just confusing. No such problems with this book. Rhea has written a page-turning work about this confusing battle. This ranks amongst the best military history books I've ever read. Rhea's book has many good qualities about it. It has ample amounts of maps. It describes events in detail, but not so minute as to bore the reader. He explains tactics so that a master or novice can understand. The mini-biographies of all the differing players are helpful too. Rhea also does an excellent job of using memoirs, letters, diaries, and other books on the battle to bring everything together into a very readable, easily understood work. I was also glad to see that Rhea explained why he came to certain conclusions (and often times, even explained the other side too so you could make your own mind up) and he was also willing to lay blame where it deserved, even if flung at a popular general, or stick up for others, even if unpopular. All in all, a great work and one of the best military history books I've read. I can't wait to get started on the rest of the series......

The Overland Series.......2006-07-22

The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 520 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (July 1994)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807118737

The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 483 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 1997)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807121363

To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 505 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (May 2000)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807125350

Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864
Product Details
* Hardcover: 552 pages
* Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (September 2002)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0807128031

I am reviewing the four books a single series although each book is a full stand-alone history. This is a highly detailed military history of Grant's Overland Campaign of 1864. Two of the best generals commanding two of the best armies, in American history, decide the Civil war in the East. Gordon Rhea gives this month the detailed attention it requires and had never received. The 2,000 pages allows for the full story of the campaign, the personalities, failures and success.

The first book covers the major battle of The Wilderness an area Grant wished to clear and Lee hoped to trap him in as he had Hooker in 1863. Through a series of Union miscalculations and command problems, Lee manages to get in Grant's way. What follows is a confused bloody two-day battle that has been termed "Bush whacking on a grand scale". An excellent series of maps, help the reader stay abreast of the battle and understand the confusion of both sides. Lee loses Longstreet and starts to make the hard decisions about personnel that he has avoided since 1862. Grant while testing his relationship with Meade and Burnside, is trying to learn the AOP's generals too. This process dominates the four books as repeatedly Grant is forced to deal with the problems this creates and Lee takes steps that were unthinkable in 1863.

The second book moves the battle from The Wilderness south to Spotsylvania and Yellow Tavern. Grant refuses to "play the game" and retreat behind the Rappahannock but pushes past Lee and continues south. What follows is a race from defensive point to defensive point, which the AOP concedes to the AoNV. Union commanders hesitate at critical moments while the AoNV reinforces the objective. This allows Lee to stay up or ahead producing one of the bloodiest battles in our history at Spotsylvania. In addition, this book covers the critical cavalry operations, Grant's reasoning, and the price paid in taking Sheridan away from Meade. J.E.B. Stuart's death, is well covered. Both in terms of what it means to the AoNV, to Lee and to the Confederacy.

After one of the hardest weeks in their history, the two exhausted bloodied armies eye each other over their entrenchments. Lee understands that he is being trapped and that defensive war can only end in defeat. Grant is trying not to be stuck in a siege and determined to continue south. What follows is a series of forced marches and small battles as Grant and Lee test each other. Each general wins and loses daily as the armies march, counter march and fight. However, at the end of each day, Grant is always closer to Richmond. Lee produces a brilliant trap, Grant takes the bait but circumstances keep lee from springing it. Almost to late, Grant sees the trap pulls back, changes direction and continues south. Book 3, To the North Anna River covers this brilliant and exciting time in detail. Rhea produces some excellent analysis of both commanders and the developing personnel problems they are facing. Neither man is having an easy time of it and both understand they have never faced an enemy like this.

The last book takes us to Cold Harbor, one of the most controversial battles of the war. The detail history and excellent analysis leads us through this battle and produces some startling conclusions. As always, the author provides full support and justification for them. This might be the most important book of the series and the definitive book on the battle of Cold Harbor.

Each book has a full set of maps and illustrations. The writing is uniform and very readable. While detailed, the actions are understandable and you are seldom lost in a sea of names and/or unit numbers. Each book is a stand-alone history and is readable as such. The books were published from 1994 to 2002 and had to be written that way. This is the best account of the Overland Campaign available. It is both an invaluable reference and a great reading experience.

The Wilderness Campaign.......2005-09-12

Rhea has done an excellent job of sorting out fact from friction in this major civil war campaign. I have read several accounts including Grant's own biographical account of the wilderness battle. This is by far the most complete coverage of the two critical days of the conflict. I especially enjoyed reading the account of the medical treatment associated with the fatal wounding of Union General James S. Wadsworth. Wadsworth was a major land holder and statesmen in the Genesse Valley near Rochester NY were I grow up. I had never heard of the unsusal story of the rebel farmer who went to his aid and eventually claimed the General's remains. This kind of detail makes the author's account of the people in the terrible collision of forces so remarkable. This is a classic narrative of the final wilderness tragedy where so many on both sides lost thier life in early 1864 to end the conflict. The beginning of the end of the rebellion by attrition.

Excellent Narrative of a Bloody and Confusing Battle.......2005-08-04

In my humble opinion, Rhea has written what I believe to be the definitive account of one of the war's most bloody and savage battles. Rhea's writing style is clear and crisp - easy enough for the layperson yet technical enough to challenge the thinking of historians and military professionals.

The author is fair and balanced in his praises and criticisms of Northern and Southern leaders and the many missed opportunities by both sides to deliver a decisive blow. His battle descriptions are clear and interesting, lacking the dry narratives and extremely gory descriptions of other Civil War titles. While Rhea is able to convey the battle's ferocity, he does not get bogged down in numerous decapitations, limbs blown off, etc.

While the maps are of high quality, there could have been at least 5-10 more. I have stated this problem in reviews of other Civil War titles. While deeply interested in the Civil War, I am not a professional historian and believe that having additional maps would have better clarified some of the troop movements and battles. Additionally, most of the maps went down to only the division or brigade-level. Having regimental-level maps would have made it easier to follow the many regimental battle descriptions contained in the title.

Complaint about the maps aside, I heartily recommend Rhea's book as the definitive account of the first encounter between Grant (okay Meade fans, I'll mention him too!)and Lee. The book will be a valuable guide for better understanding the action in the Wilderness on my next battlefield visit. I have a goal to read his other titles and eagerly look forward to reading his book on Spotsylvania.

Read and enjoy!

Maybe The Best Book on the Complicated battle of The Wilderness.......2005-06-25

This is quite possibly the best book on the battle of the Wilderness particularly since this is one of the most difficult battlefields to visualize with an on site visit since the wilderness, barring suburban encroachment, is still hard to see since much of the growth has or was still there. Rhea does a wonderful job providing the reader the plans that each commander had in mind for the campaign particularly Grant's original plan to move south than west to attack Lee, which was obviously upset by Lee's aggressive move forward. Rhea also does Freeman like bios on the key officer corps of both armies including a well detailed discussion of the complex nature of Grant being present and active with the Army of the Potomac and Meade but not yet taking a firm hand in operations while Burnside's 9th Corps is an independent unit commanded by Grant. Rhea provides outstanding maps with several showing the overall plan of the campaign (Xerox the overall geographic layout map and use it as a book mark for later reference) while also providing several timely spaced close up maps of the various battle developments. Rhea also provides excellent detail on the failure of the Union cavalry to detect Ewell's and Hill's forward movements particularly Wilson's inability to provide reconnaissance as he becomes isolated and virtually cut off on the Catherprin Road entangled with ANV Rosser while the ANV infantry move up the Orange Turnpike colliding with the unsuspecting 5th corps entangling Warren and upsetting Meade's move. Rhea provides tremendous detail on the complicated movements and the interplay of commands while providing a wonderful balance of quotes from participants. Some of the highlights are Ewell's strong defensive performance on the turnpike, Warren's forced dilemma in attacking an entrenched foe without proper support, Hancock's suspended movement to support the union right wing, Longstreet's bulldozer attack and flank move, Burnside's difficulties in positioning for a center attack, and Longstreet's long march and his ordered change of march. Rhea also highlights discussion ion on Hill's failure to secure his lines after the first day of battle where his two divisions held back virtually four union divisions, Longstreet's great march of 32 miles in one day yet with one extensive break, Gordon's late flank attack delayed by Ewell and Early, Burnsides almost piercing of the vulnerable center, Lee's desperate attempts to rally Hill's crushed division, the mysterious lack of cavalry participation by Stuart and Sheridan, Grant's gradual assertion of command and Lee's desperate attempt to break through Hancock's line after Longstreet's wounding and great flank attack. The only mild criticism is that some of the officers are somewhat stereo typed and they do not always have their actions judged by face value in the campaign. For example, Ewell is praised throughout the book because of his staunch command of the initial aspects of the battle and his handling of troops yet at the end he seems criticized a little too much for having a delayed initiative that seemed more hamstrung by Early's reluctance (Gettysburg the first Day again?). The author's descriptions of the difficulty of either army to maneuver in the deep scrub growth woods is so well documented that the reader can appreciate how brigades not less divisions became separated and lost sense of direction and often fought separate battles within a battle. And Rhea describes best why a center attack well conceived but fails by Burnside in the entangled woods between Hill and Ewell as the ANV plugs another gap. How good is Rhea's book? I started the next book of his series on Spotsylvania and I will stay the course for the duration of Rhea's overland campaign.

Great Maps of the Civil War: Pivotal Battles and Campaigns Featuring 32 Removable Maps (Museum in a Book, 2)

Average customer rating:

very informative
Great Maps of the Civil War: Pivotal Battles and Campaigns Featuring 32 Removable Maps
civil war maps book
Great Maps
A Living History

Great Maps of the Civil War: Pivotal Battles and Campaigns Featuring 32 Removable Maps (Museum in a Book, 2)
William J. Miller
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

World | Atlases & Maps | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1558539999

Book Description

When Union General George McClellan marched toward the Confederate capital of Richmond in 1862, he encountered the Warwick River "where it wasn't supposed to be," causing a delay in his strategy and criticism from Northern press. McClellan was following a map created by an esteemed and experienced topographer, but the map was wrong! The map McClellan was following, reproduced in Great Maps of the Civil War, shows lines in pencil along the true course of the Warwick, apparently drawn after it was too late.

Most people interested in the Civil War are fascinated by maps - for what they tell about the battles, for what they tell about the terrain, and in some cases for their artistic beauty. But maps reproduced in books have limitations and there is not a good way of preserving a map collection - until now. Fifteen chapters in Great Maps of the Civil War each contain two or three maps that can be pulled out of a pocket. Ten of the maps are 18" x 24"; others are smaller. In addition to a discussion of the battles and the roles of the maps, the book tells about Civil War mapmakers and the methods they used.

Stunningly designed, this unique full-color book will make a significant addition to the library of any Civil War enthusiast or those who are fascinated by maps and mapmakers.

Customer Reviews:

very informative.......2007-05-25

this book will be convienent for any civil war buff, historian,and wargamer. I really like the way the maps also can be removed to look
at better,this comes in handy when reading other civil war sources
for ease of reference or when visiting the actual sites. It also explained
the map making process at the time and the various methods used, with the
mention of many of the cartographers of the time, and in both armies.
I personally wish they would make more of these books on different eras of history

Great Maps of the Civil War: Pivotal Battles and Campaigns Featuring 32 Removable Maps.......2007-04-12

I purchased the book for my son-in-law, who is a Civil War buff, mainly for the removable maps. I was quite pleased to see that it will be not only a nice addition to his collection but also is a handsome tabletop book. Since he and his family live near sites of some of the great battles they, they'll be able to take a map with them when they visit. My grandson, aged 11, should also enjoy this as the commentaries bring the War to life. Now I'm going to have to buy one for us as my husband wanted to keep it for his own enjoyment!

civil war maps book.......2007-03-08

VERY WELL LIKED by cicil war buff I gifted it to!!!!!!!!!

Great Maps.......2007-02-21

I gave this book to my husband for his birthday and he was ecstatic. He has studied each map and marked them with colored markers. He emerges from its covers about twice a week to thank me again for getting it for him. I don't think I've ever given him a birthday present that he has liked more.

A Living History.......2007-02-14

I'm a child of the South and relish Civil War history. This book is just great in all respects. The text is clear and readable, tells the story well, and the maps are wonderful. The book itself is beautifully printed and the pages are substantial. It's a real treasure to have it in our library.

The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Average customer rating:

The Best Got Better
Essential, Important, & Inclusive, but falls short of "Best"
Civil War Without Lincoln?
Amazon's Packaging :((((((
Wow!

The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
James M. McPherson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0195159012

Book Description

Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History and a New York Times Bestseller, Battle Cry of Freedom is universally recognized as the definitive account of the Civil War. It was hailed in The New York Times as "historical writing of the highest order." The Washington Post called it "the finest single volume on the war and its background." And The Los Angeles Times wrote that "of the 50,000 books written on the Civil War, it is the finest compression of that national paroxysm ever fitted between two covers." Now available in a splendid new edition is The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom. Boasting some seven hundred pictures, including a hundred and fifty color images and twenty-four full-color maps, here is the ultimate gift book for everyone interested in American history. McPherson has selected all the illustrations, including rare contemporary photographs, period cartoons, etchings, woodcuts, and paintings, carefully choosing those that best illuminate the narrative. More important, he has written extensive captions (some 35,000 words in all, virtually a book in themselves), many of which offer genuinely new information and interpretations that significantly enhance the text. The text itself, streamlined by McPherson, remains a fast-paced narrative that brilliantly captures two decades of contentious American history, from the Mexican War to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The reader will find a truly masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities--as well as McPherson's thoughtful commentary on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory. A must-have purchase for the legions of Civil War buffs, The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom is both a spectacularly beautiful volume and the definitive account of the most important conflict in our nation's history.

Customer Reviews:

The Best Got Better.......2007-02-02

I read 'Battle Cry of Freedom' some time back and decided then that it was the best one volumn authority on the Civil War ever written. My paperback copy is extremely worn and has underlines, my comments, etc. throughout. A good friend bought 'The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom' for me and I have just been elated with it. It is one of the most treasured books in my extensive war collection. The illustrations etc. are just a wonderful addition to a wonderful book.

Essential, Important, & Inclusive, but falls short of "Best".......2005-09-11

Widely praised as the best single volume history of the American Civil War, James McPherson's `Battle Cry of Freedom' comes close, but does not quite live up to that high praise. It has many virtues to recommend it, yet it contains flaws that are closely related to its virtues which, to my mind, make it fall short of the admittedly arbitrary "best" status.
The book's strength is in its inclusiveness. Sub titled `The Civil War Era'; it truly lives up to its billing. It begins not with the opening of the Civil War, but with the Mexican War and the developing sectional crisis which that war helped to escalate. The first seven chapters of the book chronicle the many related social and political crises which continued to rive the country into two separate and hostile camps, making war all but inevitable. Even after McPherson launches into the story of the war proper, his book is much more that a simple tale of battles and generals. He devotes whole chapters to related subjects such as manufacturing capabilities North and South, the medical situation, the financing of the war, political crises which affect the war effort, foreign diplomacy, and the developing importance of the issue of slavery as an overwhelming factor in the war. He successfully gives the big picture of the overall social and political environment which is absolutely necessary to put the war into context and truly understand it.
The greatest virtue of this volume, however, is its continued insistence on emphasizing the importance of the issue of slavery. McPherson repeatedly points out that while the war was fought for Union, its primary and overriding cause was the slavery issue. Many historians downplay or avoid this issue as much as possible, as it causes controversy and resentment among a large subset of Civil War students who are committed to the myth that slavery was a wholly peripheral issue that had little or nothing to do with the war. Though many of these people may be well meaning and sincere, I believe this myth to be as historically odious and dangerous as the idea of Holocaust denial, and it is much more pervasive and widely believed than that latter myth. McPherson tackles this myth head on, and from beginning to end drills in the importance of slavery as the primary cause of division in the country, the catalyst for secession and war, and one of the primary stumbling blocks to a peaceful settlement of the hostilities. He also clearly shows that while the North primarily fought the war for the cause of Union, that as the war progressed, the issue of freedom and emancipation took on greater and greater importance, until by war's end, many in the North saw the two as intertwined and of equal importance.
`Battle Cry of Freedom' is not, however, without flaw. McPherson writes well enough to make this longish and comprehensive history flow along nicely without bogging down and boring the reader, but his prose lacks the charm that could make the events he writes of come passionately to life. This is compounded by the fact that his comprehensive take on the entire era limits the detail that he can devote to any single battle or personality of the war. All of the important events and people are here, but they are mere utilitarian sketches that mostly lack depth, color, and insight. This is a book to read for an overview, but the reader must go elsewhere for a deeper understanding of any single event or personality of the times.
This Illustrated Edition is a heavy, oversized volume filled with many excellent maps, photographs, illustrations, and period cartoons on every page that nicely complements the text. Its bulk makes it unwieldy to carry about and read. Also, the illustrations have replaced the book's footnotes, so it is not the edition to have for anyone who needs to reference it for scholarly reasons. It would be most useful to those who do not already have large volumes of Civil War photographs and illustrations in their collections.

`Battle Cry of Freedom' is an outstanding, important history of the American Civil War. Though it falls just short of its billing as the best single volume history of the war (Fletcher Pratt's `A Short History of the Civil War: Ordeal By Fire' still holds that distinction), it should be considered absolutely essential reading for any Civil War scholar or anyone wishing to gain a full knowledge of this great American conflict. It has my recommendation.

Theo Logos

Civil War Without Lincoln?.......2005-08-21

I've spent the last five hours reading big chunks of McPherson's book. It is full of scholarly political insights, and best of all, full of wonderful photos and paintings from the Civil War Era. Interstingly: the author's sense of the era is greatly extended in the beginning. His first 184 pages (of 760 total) discuss the Louisiana Purchase, the Mormon trek to Utah, the War with Mexico, etc. Finally on page 185 the southern sessession begins and the presidential election results of 1860 are shown. Even more interesting: the book abruptly ends before the war did. In the final chapter, in which Lee meets Grant at Appomattox, the closing sentence is a quote from John Wilkes Booth vowing, "Now by God I'll put him through..." That's the end. Then in the Epilogue, the first sentence is: "The weeks after Booth fulfilled his vow..." and continues with a one-paragraph kaliedescope of various events. Strangely nothing is said about the assassination of Pres. Abraham Lincoln that put such an emotional exclamation point on the end of the war. I also checked, and Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address is not included either. So give it four stars for good writing (although not the equal of a Will Durant) and some excellent insights, but what about Lincoln? Go figure.

Amazon's Packaging :((((((.......2005-08-21

I have returned this item TWICE to Amazon. For some reason, they do not think it needs much packaging. Its not a $12.95 paperback, its a signed, limited edition, slipcase edition and should be treated as such. If you want to get a good copy I would recommend buying it a bricks and mortar store. The extra $$ you pay will be worth it in the long run.

Wow!.......2005-03-26

While searching for a book that would give me in-depth information about the Civil War, I came across The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom. This book not only gave me an understanding of the war, but also insight into American life during this period of time. The illustrations helped me to retain the facts I learned, and were a great asset when I was teaching my 9 year old son about the Civil War. Even if you don't have the time to get through this hefty book, leafing through to look at the wonderful pictures/maps and reading excerpts is still enjoyable.

Average customer rating:

New Essential for your Civil War Library
Shiloh and the Western Campaign
History As It Should Be Written
Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862
Somewhat Disappointing

Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

Manufacturer: Savas Beatie
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1932714278

Book Description

The bloody and decisive two-day battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862) changed the entire course of the American Civil War. The stunning Northern victory thrust Union commander Ulysses S. Grant into the national spotlight, claimed the life of Confederate commander Albert S. Johnston, and forever buried the notion that the Civil War would be a short conflict. The conflagration at Shiloh had its roots in the strong Union advance during the winter of 1861-1862 that resulted in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee. The offensive collapsed General Albert S. Johnston advanced line in Kentucky and forced him to withdraw all the way to northern Mississippi. Anxious to attack the enemy, Johnston began concentrating Southern forces at Corinth, a major railroad center just below the Tennessee border. His bold plan called for his Army of the Mississippi to march north and destroy General Grant's Army of the Tennessee before it could link up with another Union army on the way to join him. On the morning of April 6, Johnston boasted to his subordinates, "Tonight we will water our horses in the Tennessee!" They nearly did so. Johnston's sweeping attack hit the unsuspecting Federal camps at Pittsburg Landing and routed the enemy from position after position as they fell back toward the Tennessee River. Johnston's sudden death in the Peach Orchard, however, coupled with stubborn Federal resistance, widespread confusion, and Grant's dogged determination to hold the field, saved the Union army from destruction. The arrival of General Don C. Buell's reinforcements that night turned the tide of battle. The next day, Grant seized the initiative and attacked the Confederates, driving them from the field. Shiloh was one of the bloodiest battles of the entire war, with nearly 24,000 men killed, wounded, and missing. Edward Cunningham, a young Ph.D. candidate studying under the legendary T. Harry Williams at Louisiana State University, researched and wrote Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 in 1966. Although it remained unpublished, many Shiloh experts and park rangers consider it to be the best overall examination of the battle ever written. Indeed, Shiloh historiography is just now catching up with Cunningham, who was decades ahead of modern scholarship. Western Civil War historians Gary D. Joiner and Timothy B. Smith have resurrected Cunningham's beautifully written and deeply researched manuscript from its undeserved obscurity. Fully edited and richly annotated with updated citations and observations, original maps, and a complete order of battle and table of losses, Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 will be welcomed by everyone who enjoys battle history at its finest. Edward Cunningham, Ph.D., studied under T. Harry Williams at Louisiana State University. He was the author of The Port Hudson Campaign: 1862-1863 (LSU, 1963). Dr. Cunningham died in 1997. Gary D. Joiner, Ph.D. is the author of One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864, winner of the 2004 Albert Castel Award and the 2005 A. M. Pate, Jr., Award, and Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West. He lives in Shreveport, Louisiana. Timothy B. Smith, Ph.D., is author of Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg (winner of the 2004 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Non-fiction Award), The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield, and This Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory, and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park. A former ranger at Shiloh, Tim teaches history at the University of Tennessee. REVIEWS "With their sparkling introductory essay, editors Gary Joinerand Timothy Smith give readers ample reason to want to read O.Edward Sullivan's 1966 dissertation....Anyone with a serious interest in the early Western theater campaigns and the Battle of Shiloh will find this book essential reading. Casual readers will likely enjoy it as well (not something you can often say about a dissertation)."Civil War Books and Authors; April 15,2007 ;A Wagenhoffer "...it may well be the best, most perceptive and authoritative account of the Battle of Shiloh ..".The Weekly Standard 6/25/2007

Customer Reviews:

New Essential for your Civil War Library.......2007-08-27

"Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" is the previously unpublished 1966 doctoral thesis of O. Edward Cunningham with an editorial touch up by Dr's Joiner and Smith. Dr. Cunningham was a doctoral student at the Louisiana State University of the late T. Harry Williams, author of the vastly influential work "Lincoln and His Generals". The editors are both authors of books on the Civil War in the West with Dr. Smith writing the well received "Champion Hill - Decisive Battle for Vicksburg"

The Battle of Shiloh was one of the most critical battles in American History. Some of the biggest figures of the Civil War - Grant, Sherman, Johnston, Bragg, Beauregard, Buell - they all fought there. As Grant would write in his memoirs, before Shiloh, Americans on both sides of the Mason Dixon line believed that the war could still be a short limited affair. Shiloh shattered that illusion. The two day battle saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war in which over 23,000 men were taken casualty.

Dr. Cunningham's work is a detailed history of the battle of Shiloh. The focus of the work is on the Divisions, Brigades, Regiments and the men that fought in them. . It covers in excellent detail which brigades, fought for which piece of ground, when they were fighting and what happened. In fact, the book is so crammed with details that at times it risks losing the forest for the trees with all the Colonel This of the 23rd Volunteer Infantry and Captain That of Company C, 10th Southern Infantry. Close but not quite. The work presents a clear and cogent picture of how the battle unfolded.

This is not a command study as Larry Daniel's more recent "Shiloh - The Battle That Changed the Civil War" is. While the decisions of Grant, Beauregard and Johnston are covered, they are not examined in detail. In many respects the Army Commanders are the supporting actors in this story. Once the battle was joined, Grant and Johnston were secondary to the fate of their armies. In fact, much of the Confederate Army was unaware of Johnston's death until after the battle was over. This is not to say that they are totally ignored in the work, only that they are not its emphasis.

Like all Campaign Histories, this one spends the first third of the work placing the Armies in context. The opening phases of the war, the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, the Confederate concentration at Corinth, and the Union movement to Pittsburg Landing are all covered. What is not covered in any critical depth is Beauregard's plan for the battle and its impact on the outcome of the battle. For that you will need to read Daniel's book.

I very much enjoyed this work. Unlike so many recent books on Military History, this one came with 32 maps of the battle. Additionally the end of the book their is a photo tour of the battlefield today. Unfortunately, the maps lack any road or creek names. It would have been nice when Dr. Cunningham is discussing McClernand's position along the Purdy Road, that the Purdy Road would be indicated on the map that accompanies the text. Some times I felt like Lew Wallace, wondering which road I should follow. As for the photos I think a better use for them would be to have put the photos alongside within the chapter that discussed the battle for that particular location. The book also comes with photos of all the Generals that participated in the battle. The pictures are all taken from the "Generals in Blue" and "Generals in Grey" works. As a real fan of portraits, I would have wished that we could have had more original pictures other than the mug shots we have all seen a million times before.

Dr. Cunningham's work is much enhanced by the editing of Joiner and Smith. They have altered the original text to clean up minor historical errors, such as removing Dr. Cunningham's assertion that Grant's men erected field fortifications in the final Union defensive position. All corrections are properly footnoted at the bottom of each page. I have never read a book that has had such wonderful footnotes. They provide additional insights and a running commentary on the book. There were times when I would find myself turning the page just to see what juicy little tidbit would be there. I think in the future I will make the effort to read the footnotes just in case I am missing something.

"Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" for all that it is 40 years old, and a doctoral dissertation at that, does not have a dated or arcane feel to it. It very much reminds me of the works by Peter Cozzens. Shiloh is a battle that deserves multiple serious works on it. There is room in every Civil War library for the major books on this battle. Those of Larry Daniel, Wiley Sword, James McDonough, and now Dr. Cunningham. I know my library would not be complete without it.

Shiloh and the Western Campaign.......2007-08-15

Dr.Cunninghams over-all view of battle accounts are very accurate.Shiloh was organized chaos early in war and he defines the players and their
movements very, very well and with an interesting flair. No other author comes close,absolutley the best on Shiloh.A must read for the novice and the Civil War scholar......Frank Brazl

History As It Should Be Written.......2007-08-13

Battle histories are not generally easy reads; by their very nature they are a detailed account of a specific battle. Some are more detailed than others. By and large battle histories are not, and should not be "quick reads." They do tend to be somewhat dry and tedious reading. Not so with O. Edward Cunningham's "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862."

Written as a doctoral dissertation in the 1960's Cunningham's manuscript remained unpublished for nearly forty years, though it has not been forgotten. The manuscript, a copy of which was housed in the library of the Shiloh National Military Park, has been consulted by armature and professional historians alike. Now thanks to the efforts of editors, Timothy B. Smith and Gary D. Joiner, the manuscript has at long last been published by Savas Beatie Publishing Company.

Cunningham's writing is a joy to read, his narrative flows with ease, and as editors Smith and Joiner, only needed to step in to update new information which has come to light during the 40 years since Cunningham wrote his dissertation or to clarify points here and there where Cunningham's narrative needed a little help... needless to say those times were few and far between.

For a forty year old manuscript, Dr. Cunningham's work seems surprisingly fresh and vibrant; the writing does not date itself. The book contains many new ideas, and different approaches to interpreting and understanding this first, major, catastrophic battle of the American Civil War. For instance, Cunningham deemphasizes the importance of the fight at The Hornet's Nest while shifting the spotlight to the fighting at the crossroads on the west side of the field.

Not only is Dr. Cunningham's narrative, a history of the Battle of Shiloh, but also the whole western campaign from the Confederate Army's invasion of Kentucky & Grant's twin victories and Forts Henry & Donnellson to Shiloh, Corinth and beyond.

Mr. Joiner has drawn over 30 maps to assist the reader in following the action, and there many period photographs and even a photographic tour of the battlefield as it exists to day. Cunningham's notes are true footnotes, located at the bottom of the page, allowing you to quickly look down to see where his information came from without having to thumb to the back of the book which scores an A+ in my grade book.

Being a Savas Beatie publication, "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" is a quality volume, printed in a nice easy to read font, on acid free paper, and the artwork on the dust jacket is just gorgeous. This book was a great read and I am proud to list this among the titles in my collection.

Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862.......2007-08-08

Probably the new standard for Shiloh. With the new maps, it will give the reader a feeling and presence of the field. With T. Harry Williams fingerprints on this material, it was well researched and well documented.

Somewhat Disappointing.......2007-07-28

I was particularly interested in getting a detailed account of the battle of Shiloh (or Pittsburgh Landing as it was often called in the North) as a relative of mine was killed in that battle. Although the book goes into great detail about the units involved in the battle and the names of the various officers, I found the book to be somewhat disappointing overall. Even the listing of military units and officers often tended to interrupt the "flow" of events. It was almost as if the concentration on all the "trees" tended to obscure the view of the "forest." Compounding this problem were the maps. I am a "map person" and when I saw the number of maps included in this book I was delighted at first, only to be disappointed as I tried to use them in following and understanding the battle. Many units of the armies mentioned in the book were not identified on the maps, and many features of the battlefield (such as the names of roads and creeks) referred to in the text were also omitted from the maps. This made them very difficult to use in following the narrative which was a frustrating disappointment to me.

The first account of the battle that I ever read was from a book called "My Days and Nights on the Battlefield" (published in 1864) by Charles Carleton Coffin who was a newspaper correspondent for the Boston Journal. Called by some "the Ernie Pyle of his era," Coffin was the only correspondent to serve throughout the Civil War from 1st Bull Run to Appomattox. Coffin was not present during the battle of Shiloh, but arrived shortly after, interviewed many of the participants and examined the battlefield. Another of my disappointments in "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" is that, although the book has footnotes galore, documenting the information given, Coffin's fine description and analysis of the battle is not referenced at all. Admittedly, that is perhaps only a personal disappointment, but in a book offering such detailed documentation, this omission is difficult to understand.

I'm making this review sound too negative, I believe. Overall, I think it was a worthwhile read and I don't hesitate in recommending it. My criticisms are rather personal and reflect some frustrations - especially in regard to the incomplete details of the maps - that I experienced in reading it. Another thing I liked about the book was the inclusion of photographs of many of the officers on both sides. It's probably not a book that I will read again, at least not in its entirety, but for any true Civil War buff it is certainly worth reading. I read it shortly after finishing "Twilight at Little Round Top" and "Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the War" so this book probably suffered somewhat in comparison.

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