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 ...
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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.
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Add this copy of Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era to cart. $2.94, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Oxford University Press, USA.
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Add this copy of Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era to cart. $2.94, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Oxford University Press, USA.
Add this copy of Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era to cart. $2.94, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Oxford University Press, USA.
Add this copy of Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era to cart. $2.94, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Oxford University Press, USA.
Add this copy of Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era to cart. $2.94, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Oxford University Press, USA.
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there is a lot of this book and it goes into an immense amount of detail. This includes the battles of the Civil War - well of course. My problem with the book in this respect is that assumes a complete familiarity with the geography of the USA and provides no maps to assist you in your way around say Virginia. The quite numerous maps it does provide of battle locations are produced in a limited greyscale rendition which makes understanding them very difficult.
Names of political and military protagonists come thick and fast and a few summary tables or a glossary of these many characters would have helped immensely.
I'm finding my way into the Civil War and my reading is meant to supplement a course I'm following. This book is not really an introduction for the novice - too long, too detailed; maybe I'll be glad to come back to it in a year when I've a better impression of the overall picture.
dneel
Aug 23, 2007
Readable history
An unusual blend of scholarship and readabilty. McPherson's concise treatment of causes and events leading to the War Between the States prepares the novice for the "picnic" atmostphere at the start of the conflict through four years of hellish brutality. Hard to leave unopened and unfinished.
Averain
Apr 21, 2007
Simply the Best One-Volume Civil War History
This book opened my eyes about a lot I did not know concerning Civil War History and it is so well written that I couldn't put it down. McPherson covers the entire war including the period just prior to the war in order to put it in perspective. When he cites the reasons the war was fought he pulls from primary sources and I found much of it challenged what I was taught about the Civil War in school. I can't recommend this book enough.
