Description
Book SynopsisJames McPherson evokes the meaning and significance of the Civil War
Trade Review[O]ffers a welcome and much-needed challenge to the rigidity displayed by some accounts of that conflict. ... [C]ontains a wealth of oft-overlooked information and solid conclusions concerning many salient facets of the American Civil War. It is highly recommended." * Joseph A. Rose, The NYMAS Review *
Those readers unfamiliar with the history of the conflict can expect to learn much of the war's military, diplomatic, political, and social history, even as McPherson's sharp prose and narrative style keep the writing brisk. * Cameron Givens, Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective *
Previous praise for Battle Cry of Freedom: "Deftly coordinated, gracefully composed, charitably argued and suspensefully paid out, McPherson's book is just the compass of the tumultuous middle years of the 19th century it was intended to be, and as narrative history it is surpassing. Bright with details and fresh quotations, solid with carefully-arrived-at conclusions, it must surely be, of the 50,000 books written on the Civil War, the finest compression of that national paroxysm ever fitted between two covers. * Los Angeles Times Book Review *
The best one-volume treatment of [the Civil War era] I have ever come across. It may actually be the best ever published.... I was swept away, feeling as if I had never heard the saga before.... Omitting nothing important, whether military, political, or economic, he yet manages to make everything he touches drive the narrative forward. This is historical writing of the highest order. * Hugh Brogan, The New York Times Book Review *
The finest single volume on the war and its background. * The Washington Post Book World *
Table of Contents1. Why the Civil War Still Matters ; 2. Mexico, California, and the Coming of the Civil War ; 3. A Just War? ; 4. Death and Destruction in the Civil War ; 5. American Navies and British Neutrality During the Civil War ; 6. The Rewards of Risk-Taking: Two Civil War Admirals ; 7. How Did Freedom Come? ; 8. Lincoln, Slavery, and Freedom ; 9. A. Lincoln, Commander in Chief ; 10. The Commander Who Would Not Fight: McClellan and Lincoln ; 11. Lincoln's Legacy for Our Time ; 12. War and Peace in the Post-Civil War South
