Thomas F. (hardtack) -
Civil War Magazine choose this book to be one of the 200 best books on the Civil War.
If you don't wish to read James McPherson's "Battlecry of Freedom", but still want a very good overview of the war, in a much shorter book, then I highly recommend "A People's Contest." The author does a great job of covering every aspect of the War, including many areas other authors avoid. To understand the war, you must also know the political, economic, social, religious aspects. Many are not covered in other books. The author also covers the hometown response, the draft riots, immigration, international diplomacy..... the list of areas covered just goes on and on for 393 pages.
However, the military coverage suffers, but so many other books cover that in excess---while avoiding the topics above---that you can find that information elsewhere.
There were only three areas where I had a problem with the author's coverage, and all were military-related
On page 73, he states, "The Army of the Potamac went through McDowell, McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker and Meade before settling on Grant." Grant was never THE commander of the Army of the Potomac, as Meade remained the commander until the end of the war. However, Grant did travel with that army during the 1864-65 campaigns. Plus, Pope also never commanded the Army of the Potomac, he commanded the Army of Virginia, a separate, but short lived, organization. This reveals the author's knowledge shortcomings on the military aspects of the Civil War.
On page 301, the author also has Sherman asking Hood to evacuate the civilians from Atlanta. Huh? This didn't happen. Only after Sherman took Atlanta, did Sherman force the 'enemy' civilians out.
Finally, on page 308, the author makes a mistake many others make. He lists all the casualties the Army of the Potomac suffered in the 1864 campaign with some detail. But, like many others, he fails to list any Confederate casualties, as if the Rebs were killing and wounding tens of thousands of Yankees without taking any losses themselves. Why do you suppose Sherman's "March to the Sea" was a walk-through in Georgia and the Carolinas? Because the Confederates in the East---especially in the Army of Northern Virginia---were taking so many casualties themselves, they were stripping the South of any troops they could find to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia. Geeesh!
If you don't wish to read James McPherson's "Battlecry of Freedom", but still want a very good overview of the war, in a much shorter book, then I highly recommend "A People's Contest." The author does a great job of covering every aspect of the War, including many areas other authors avoid. To understand the war, you must also know the political, economic, social, religious aspects. Many are not covered in other books. The author also covers the hometown response, the draft riots, immigration, international diplomacy..... the list of areas covered just goes on and on for 393 pages.
However, the military coverage suffers, but so many other books cover that in excess---while avoiding the topics above---that you can find that information elsewhere.
There were only three areas where I had a problem with the author's coverage, and all were military-related
On page 73, he states, "The Army of the Potamac went through McDowell, McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker and Meade before settling on Grant." Grant was never THE commander of the Army of the Potomac, as Meade remained the commander until the end of the war. However, Grant did travel with that army during the 1864-65 campaigns. Plus, Pope also never commanded the Army of the Potomac, he commanded the Army of Virginia, a separate, but short lived, organization. This reveals the author's knowledge shortcomings on the military aspects of the Civil War.
On page 301, the author also has Sherman asking Hood to evacuate the civilians from Atlanta. Huh? This didn't happen. Only after Sherman took Atlanta, did Sherman force the 'enemy' civilians out.
Finally, on page 308, the author makes a mistake many others make. He lists all the casualties the Army of the Potomac suffered in the 1864 campaign with some detail. But, like many others, he fails to list any Confederate casualties, as if the Rebs were killing and wounding tens of thousands of Yankees without taking any losses themselves. Why do you suppose Sherman's "March to the Sea" was a walk-through in Georgia and the Carolinas? Because the Confederates in the East---especially in the Army of Northern Virginia---were taking so many casualties themselves, they were stripping the South of any troops they could find to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia. Geeesh!
