DWD's Reviews

A flawed biography of a man who is often overlooked J efferson Davis (1808-1889) is an oft-overlooked figure in American history, especially when compared to his presidential counterpart in the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln. This biography is not recommended as a place to start by this history teacher, though. It has too many flaws. First, there are strong points: 1. The basics of Davis's life are correct. 2. Lots of good pictures and maps. Weak points: The Iron Will of Jefferson Davis is replete with factual errors, such as claiming that Lexington, KY was "in the East" (pg. 8) in 1823, when this was clearly considered the "West" by Americans of the time. He claims that Southern slave plantation farming was more productive than Northern agriculture - this has been proving to be untrue, unless you consider that you can get extended growing seasons and get multiple crops in Deep South, which is all about climate, not slavery (pg. 11). He also

History in a more approachable format (for some) All forms of media have their fans and detractors. History teachers (like me) often have mixed opinions about different formats. Movies show the viewer but often skip details or over-emphasize items in order to make the stories work better. Textbooks cover the basics but do it in a dry, boring manner. History books can tell the story with more detail, but give the topic to a bad writer and it is an impossible challenge to the reluctant reader. Audiobooks may help, but how many students will listen to a 13 hour history book? Historical fiction - it is a mixed bag, but has potential to keep the interest up and teach something along the way. The internet - it's literally all there - the good, the bad, the delusional. As a teacher, I have always espoused the theory that I have borrowed from Malcolm X - teach it "by any means necessary." There are good movies out there. There are good books. Well-written historical fiction

A Must for any Civil War buff Read by George Hearn Lasts about 6 hours Abridged Way back in 1989 I had to read The Killer Angels as part of a American Military History class while I was attending Indiana University. Since then I've read it 3 or 4 more times and I've recommended it to countless friends and students. Surprisingly, hearing it as an audiobook was an entirely new experience for me - it was much more powerful than I remembered. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914) The Killer Angels is the story of the Battle of Gettysburg told from a variety of points of view, but mostly from the points of view of Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet on the Confederate side. The Union side is largely represented by John Buford and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of Maine who won the Medal of Honor for his actions on the second day of the battle. The Killer Angels won the Pulitizer Prize in 1975 and is one of the finest pieces of fiction, let alone hist

This must be THE definitive book on John Singleton Mosby John Singleton Mosby (1833-1916) James A. Ramage has written what must be THE definitive book on the life of John Singleton Mosby, Gray Ghost: The Life of Col. John Singleton Mosby . I cannot imagine a more thoroughly written book on the topic. Ramage discusses his family history, his childhood and more. Of course, the largest amount is written about his service in the Civil War as a partisan ranger that terrorized the Union troops arrayed against Robert E. Lee. Ramage is definitely a fan of Mosby, but he refuses to get involved in the hype that Mosby and his contemporaries sometimes engaged in concerning how effective Mosby's men were. Ramage agrees that Mosby was cost-effective, meaning that his small groups of men - usually around 120 or so - would tie down thousands of Union soldiers, but disagrees with Mosby himself that he tied down tens of thousands. The real strength of this biography is that R

Entertaining but too many errors. Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) Mike Wright is a television writer. In fact, he writes a pretty entertaining book as well. But, his lack of training as a historian shows in What They Didn't Teach You About the Civil War.    Some of the facts things he writes about were not taught to you because they just are not facts. In other cases, they are factual, but not truthful. For example, the fact about Robert E. Lee not owning any slaves at the time of the Civil War (p. 23) is technically true - but ignores the fact that his wife owned the slaves and they freed them in 1862 (not "long before the Civil War" as the book asserts) because of a requirement of her father's will). Wright makes the comment that the Confederacy only had one good general (Lee) on page 40. Perhaps Wright meant to clarify his point and say that Lee was the Confederacy's only good commanding general because one cannot say that Stonewall Jackson was

A Fine Bit of Historical Fiction Originally published in 2006 by William Morrow No Greater Courage: A Novel of the Battle of Fredericksburg  is Richard Croker's novelization of the events leading up to and including the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of 1862 and it is just about as good as it gets in the "cast of thousands" (lots and lots of characters) type of historical fiction. Due to the nature of this sort of book, it is just about impossible to get too deeply involved in many of these characters. But, Croker does an admirable job of giving us something to know about each of them, reminding the reader who each character is when they re-join the narrative and then we get to watch them in what is arguably one of the Union Army of the Potomac's worst moments. Most of the characters are real and not all of them are big generals. Not only do we get to see the action in the battle itself, but there is plenty of focus on the behind-the-scenes pol

Does a brilliant job of looking at the "meaning" of the battle of Antietam Published in 2002 by Recorded Books. Read by Nelson Runger. Duration: 5 hours, 48 minutes. Unabridged James McPherson I have nearly 90 books that cover the Civil War on my bookshelf. Most books that cover the Civil War compartmentalize the battles into little chapters with titles like "Chancellorsville", "Antietam" and "Shiloh". The battles are thoroughly covered but the feel for the larger flow of the war is sacrificed. In Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam 1862 , McPherson dramatically sweeps the reader along and I was left with a renewed sense of amazement and respect for the fact that Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was able to fight, let alone go on the offensive against two seperate armies and fight multiple, large battles from June through September of 1862. McPherson does an extraordinary job of tying in many of the political and military threads

An Amazing One Volume History of the Civil War Bruce Catton (1899-1978) When I was a freshman in college, way back in 1986, I happened upon a Bruce Catton (1899-1978) book in the bookstore while buying all of my textbooks for my first semester. I picked it up just because I was in a mood to be educated with something that looked more interesting and less daunting than my economics and math textbooks. My fascination with all things Civil War began with that book (I sold it in a fit of stupidity a couple of years later). I read his trilogy, re-printed articles in American Heritage and then I moved on to other talented authors, such as James McPherson. Rather stupidly, I forgot how truly gifted Catton was as a writer and I just assumed that because Catton was the historian of my childhood, he was an inferior writer. Why? I don't know. I picked up this This Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Union Side of the Civil War to read on a family vacation and I was reminded, once

Fun to read, but be warned... ...you had better be up on your Civil War basics before attempting to read this book. It assumes that the reader is well aware of the main battles, campaigns, personalities and relative strengths and weaknesses of both the North and the South. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman As the title suggests, the book is primarily a collection of facts and oddball "did you know?" type of stories that are not really intended to re-tell the story of the Civil War but are mostly aimed at  people who know the story fairly well and are looking for some new stories (in my case, these are new stories I can use to bore my wife in new and different ways with the Civil War). There's bound to be something new in here for everyone but the hardest of the hard core Civil War aficionados. Well-written, breezy, although oftentimes disjointed and random. This book is also published under the titles Our Incredible Civil War and The Incredible Ci

Very good work marred by sloppy editing. Published in 1991 by Facts on File. Civil War and Reconstruction: An Eyewitness History is a good general history of the Civil War. It has good pictures and an easy to read narrative of the war. It also has a lengthy appendix that includes many of the relevant historical documents, such as the Constitutions of the USA and the Confederacy, Lincoln and Jefferson's inaugural addresses, the Gettysburg Address, short biographies of the major personalities of the era and battlefield maps. Confederate General  James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (1833-64) At the end of each chapter, there is a lengthy section of quotes from participants and commentators of the day. This interesting addition makes the narrative read much quicker, but allows the reader to look at the topic in more detail if he/she chooses. Unfortunately, there are some errors in the book due to poor editing. Two, in particular, bugged me. I used this book to look fo

A solid biography, but not without its problems First, a bit about this reviewer and Civil War books. This is my 80th Civil War book. Robert E. Lee figures prominently in almost every one of them. I consider him to be the finest general that served on either side in that war and that is high praise indeed because many generals rose to the top and did distinguished themselves in that war. If Lee is the finest general in that war, he is the greatest American officer of the 19th century and one can make the argument that he may have been the best ever (assuming one overlooks the fact that he fought against the federal government, which I am). No one did so much with so little against an opponent that was better fed, had better and more numerous weapons and outnumbered him in every battle. He fought with principle and with respect for his enemies (who he refused to call his enemies - he called the Union forces "those people.") All of that being said, even I cannot appro

Good, thought provoking Published in 1997 by Crown. I n The Warrior Generals: Combat Leadership in the Civil War , Buell analyzes three Confederate and three Union generals with six very different leadership styles. Buell gives a title to each of the six different men and they are: The Yeoman: Ulysses S. Grant The Aristocrat: Robert E. Lee The Knight-Errant: John Bell Hood The Roman: George H. Thomas The Cavalier: John B . Gordon The Puritan: Francis C. Barlow Buell researched this book heavily, including delving into the National Archives to the point that he actually found boxes of papers from the Civil War that had not even been opened since they were packaged and delivered after the war, a fact that I find amazing given the vast number of books written on the war every year. Buell is quite clear in his book that Robert E. Lee was vastly overrated and quite possibly incompetent (he never says it outright but he infers it). I agree that Lee has been overrated by so

This is how history should be written! Winik asserts that the month of April 1865 was the single most important month in the history of the United States due to the confluence of historical events and decisions that came with the end of the Civil War. The decisions include Lincoln's plan for a "soft" peace rather than a vengelful one. Lee's decision not to opt for guerrilla warfare but rather surrender and urge his men to become good citizens for their country (meaning the USA), Johnston's similar decision in North Carolina, the assassination of Lincoln, the uncertain rules of Presidential succession, the North's collective decision not to lash out blindly at a prostrate South in revenge for Lincoln's murder and a host of other issues. My take: Winik is one of that new breed of historian that knows that good writing as at least as important as good research ( You can't teach anything if you write poorly ). Winik's synopsis of the issues of

As a rule, I'm not terribly fond of the "coffee table" history books produced by the editors of Time-Life Books. Usually, they opt for more glitz than substance and you end up with a hefty (and this one certainly is, weighing in at more than 5 pounds - yes, I weighed it) but bland piece of history. However, this, I am very pleased to say, is a much better book than their usual effort. Although this is an illustrated history, the narrative that begins each chapter is very well written. The topics are interesting, especially the chapters on the abolitionists and the secessionists. They do an excellent job of setting the stage for the Civil War. I have but one complaint, a glaring factual error - they have the Battle of Gettysburg taking place in 1864 rather than 1863. Mistakes like this are easy to make (a stray finger on a keyboard...) but this is the most famous battle of the war! This book cab be found on Amazon.com here:   An Illustrated History of the Civil War