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James mcpherson battle cry of freedom11/2/2022 ![]() ![]() That is, 3 weeks of contemplating reading it and proceeding to finish it in 3 days. Was the liberation of four million slaves and the preservation of the Union worth the cost? That question too will probably never cease to be debated-but in 1865 few Black people and not many northerners doubted the answer." (less)īeing a young history buff, it took me 3 weeks and 3 days to read this. The number of southern civilians who died as a direct or indirect result of the war cannot be known what can be said is that the Civil War's cost in American lives was as great as in all of the nation's other wars combined through Vietnam. More than 620,000 soldiers lost their lives in four years of conflict-360,000 Yankees and at least 260,000 rebels. Meanwhile the process of chronicling the war and reckoning its consequences began immediately and has never ceased. "The terms of.peace and the dimensions of black freedom would occupy the country for a decade or more. The first approximately 200 pages are spent debunking the Lost Cause myth. ![]() Here's the last paragraph of …more Lol this book is the anti-Lost Cause history. Rinehart Lol this book is the anti-Lost Cause history. The whole panorama of the Civil War is captured in these pages, from the military campaign, which is described with vividness, immediacy, a grasp of strategy and logistics, and a keen awareness of the military leaders and the common soldiers involved, to its political and social aspects.moreī. With a broad historical sweep, it traces the heightening sectional conflict of the 1850s: the growing estrangement of the South and its impassioned defence of slavery the formation of the Republican Party in the North, with its increasing opposition to slavery and the struggle over territorial expansion, with its accompanying social tensions and economic expansion. ![]() This book covers one of the most turbulent periods of the USA's history, from the Mexican War in 1848 to the end of the Civil War in 1865. the best one-volume treatment of its subject I have ever come across. It is a masterful work' New York Review of Books that effectively integrates in one volume social, political and military events from the immediate aftermath of the Mexican War through the sectional strife of the 1850s, the secession movement, and the Civil War. 'A remarkably wide-ranging synthesis of the history of the 1850s and the Civil War. It will shock you for what it tells you about politics in America today.' Richard Ford It will open your eyes about race history in America. that effectively integrates in one volume social, political and military events from the immediate Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History It will shock you for what it tells you about politics in America today.' Richard Ford 'A remarkably wide-ranging synthesis of the history of the 1850s and the Civil War. So though nobody is entirely objective, I think McPherson is the most reliable, knowledgeable, yet objective writer I’ve found yet.Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History 'Read it. And indeed, anyone who writes history is subjective, even if it is only by the facts they include (and which are emphasized) what sections or titles are named and which generals are given the most air time. Feelings are sometimes still surprisingly heated. ![]() One other thing: I find that in discussions about the Civil War (still referred to in much of the South as “the war between the states”), though it is long past, in some ways it isn’t over. It requires a high level of literacy, but with that caveat, it is a surprisingly accessible narrative, from a man who documents everything and knows what he’s talking about. This is unquestionably the most thorough and accurate volume about America’s last righteous war. It also makes it much more interesting to see whose fortunes rise, and whose fall (although these are, naturally, secondary to the issue of the war itself). It begins with the Mexican-American War because that is where much of the Civil War’s military leadership is forged. It won the Pulitzer, and although it is a large, serious piece of work, it is immensely readable. If you only choose to read one (challenging and sizable) resource on the American Civil War, this is the one. ![]()
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