1861: The Civil War Awakening [Kindle Edition]

Adam Goodheart (Author)

Book Description

As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of our defining national drama, 1861 presents a gripping and original account of how the Civil War began.

1861 is an epic of courage and heroism beyond the battlefields. Early in that fateful year, a second American revolution unfolded, inspiring a new generation to reject their parents’ faith in compromise and appeasement, to do the unthinkable in the name of an ideal. It set Abraham Lincoln on the path to greatness and millions of slaves on the road to freedom.

The book introduces us to a heretofore little-known cast of Civil War heroes—among them an acrobatic militia colonel, an explorer’s wife, an idealistic band of German immigrants, a regiment of New York City firemen, a community of Virginia slaves, and a young college professor who would one day become president. Adam Goodheart takes us from the corridors of the White House to the slums of Manhattan, from the mouth of the Chesapeake to the deserts of Nevada, from Boston Common to Alcatraz Island, vividly evoking the Union at this moment of ultimate crisis and decision.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Goodheart, a historian and journalist who will be writing a column on the Civil War for the New York Times online, makes sophisticated use of a broad spectrum of sources for an evocative reinterpretation of the Civil War's beginnings. Wanting to retrieve the war from recent critics who dismiss the importance of slavery in the Union's aims, he reframes the war as "not just a Southern rebellion but a nationwide revolution" to free the country of slavery and end paralyzing attempts to compromise over it. The revolution began long before the war's first shots were fired. But it worked on the minds and hearts of average whites and blacks, slaves and free men. By 1861 it had attained an irresistible momentum. Goodheart shifts focus away from the power centers of Washington and Charleston to look at the actions and reactions of citizens from Boston to New York City, from Hampton Roads, Va., to St. Louis, Mo., and San Francisco, emphasizing the cultural, rather than military, clash between those wanting the country to move forward and those clinging to the old ways. War would be waged for four bitter years, with enduring seriousness, intensity, and great heroism, Goodheart emphasizes. 15 illus. (Apr.)
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Review

Praise for Adam Goodheart’s
1861
 
“Exhilarating.... At once more panoramic and more intimate than most standard accounts, and more inspiring.... Goodheart turns the lens away from the usual stars of the story [and] explores the more obscure corners of antebellum America, introducing fascinating figures who loomed large at the time but have now been mostly forgotten.... [With] a journalist’s eye for telling detail with the rigorous research of a good historian...Goodheart gives his far-flung journey narrative tension and suspense.... 1861 creates the uncanny illusion that the reader has stepped into a time machine.... Irresistible.”
            —Debby Applegate, New York Times Book Review (cover)
 
“It’s as if Picasso and Braque put together an account of the War Between the States. Goodheart is, for want of a better term, a cubist; he takes what is known, breaks it down to its elemental parts and rearranges it, giving us a different view entirely of something we thought we understood entirely.... Hardly a page of this book lacks an insight of importance or a fact that beguiles the reader.... Goodheart shows us that even at 150 years’ distance there are new voices, and new stories, to be heard about the Civil War, and that together they can have real meaning.... Goodheart’s new history makes a huge contribution to changing how that past looked and, by doing so, explaining it.”
            —David M. Shribman, Boston Globe (cover of the book review)

“1861 is the best book I have ever read on the start of the Civil War. Sumter, secession, and Lincoln appear in a wonderfully fresh and illuminating light, supported by a cast of extraordinary players that few Americans know about.  Penetrating, eloquent, and ...

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1735 KB
• Print Length: 498 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1400040159
• Publisher: Vintage (April 5, 2011)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004DEPEOQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,566 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #76 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States > Civil War
  • #83 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Americas > United States > Civil War

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

143 of 148 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It All Began with an "S" April 27, 2011

By James Hiller TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Normally, this is a book that I would pass up on the history shelf; me, an avid non-fiction reader and Civil War history buff. Why? Usually, books on the "years" of the Civil War are merely recountings of the events, maybe with an unique fact thrown in here and there, but nothing really new. How many times do I have to read about Lincoln's agony of whether or not to defend Ft. Sumter? However, after reading an insightful review in the "New York Times Book Review", this book found itself in my hands, and after reading it, it's become one of my new favorites. "1861: The Civil War Awakening" by Adam Goodheart is destined to become an often read introduction to this terrible, turbulent time.

What drew me in was the prologue. How often had I read about Maj. Robert Anderson's brave defense of the fort from Confederate shelling, and how he gave in honorably. What I didn't know what that Anderson originally was chosen to defend in Fort Moultrie. When South Carolina voted to secede, his small but valiant group of men (including a brass band!) constantly pressured him to move to Sumter, which was more easily defended from attack than the "park-like" Moultrie. Anderson wanted to go, but felt compelled to follow his orders. It wasn't until a telegram arrived that asked him to defend the "forts" (note the plural S) that he felt finally like he had permission to move. So he did, sneaking over to Sumter, all because of the letter S. The rest is history.

In fact, that is what Adam Goodheart truly understands; that history is all about story; the story of a person or of people. Much gets lost in the endless recitation of battle facts and ennui, which is important to remember, but there is so much more. It's the stories that drive the war.... By focusing on different people through the book, from Ralph Farnham, who fought in the Revolution and lived long enough to cast a vote for "The Rail-Splitter", to the Wide Awakes, to the Abolitionists, to San Francisco, the book paints a great picture of the country at the time of war. To understand the conflict, attests Goodheart, you must understand the country and the people who lived in it, to understand the vast array of reactions to the onset of Civil War. It reminds me a bit of NPR American Chronicles: The Civil War, which also tells many, many stories.

This is a treasured book. In what will be a vast avalanche of Civil War books coming out over the next four years, this is a great opening salvo, filled with insights to people we all know too well and to people we don't know at all.

Highly recommended. Read more ›

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars New Insight on the Start of the American Civil War May 10, 2011

By J. Beardsley TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

With the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War I wanted to add a series of books to my reading list to compliment this fact. To be honest with you, I was only somewhat excited about this literary endeavor, having already read a multitude of books on the Civil War over the years - including the Shelby Foote trilogy, Shaara's "The Killer Angels", and too many more to list here. I really didn't want to simply rehash the many famous battles that took place during this great conflict unless some new and intriguing data could be added. With that in mind, I struck out on Adam Goodheart's "1861". While I plan on reading a few books over the sesquicentennial, I am very glad I started with this book.

Bottom line: this book offered me a take on the Civil War that was entirely new and interesting to me. Goodheart started with a research question: How does a nation of real people go from a relatively peaceful state to a willingness to engage in bloody civil war in just a short matter of time? What changed within the minds of individuals, never mind the political and military figures, that allowed for this to happen? It is a question worth asking when you consider the price that was paid and the sacrifice required to bring the war to an end over the course of four years. The answer to this question offers guidance for us to this day.

To answer the research question, Goodheart chose to look at the lives of several individuals, who, at least in my case, were relatively new case studies to the American Civil War. The timeframe essentially takes place from the Presidential election of 1860 through First Manassas.... He looked closely at the lives of figures associated with key milestones, such as Major Anderson at the Siege of Fort Sumter and Nathaniel Lyons securing the federal armory in St. Louis. But, I think more importantly, he looked at the lives of some lesser know but still key figures in drawing the nation into a willingness to enter civil war. A sampling of this includes James A. Garfield, the final living participant in the Battle of Bunker Hill, Benjamin Franklin Butler, and many more. The one character he uses to carry the book through from start to finish is that of Elmer Ellsworth - a showman, friend of Lincoln, and former of the first Zouave union army unit to see combat. In that final role, Ellsworth was also killed removing a confederate flag from a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. Goodheart tells this story, as he successfully does with many others, to progress the understanding of how the nation moved so quickly into civil war. Goodheart noted that while Fort Sumter was a rallying cry to war for the north, the death of the famed Ellsworth is what pushed many over the edge in their desire to engage with the confederacy.

Perhaps the best part of 1861 though is its case for war against slavery. Goodheart does an amazing job of tearing down the myths of the Civil War as it relates to slavery. He accurately portrays the feeling of many in the north and south at the time regarding their views of slavery, pro or con, or somewhere in between - which is in fact where many stood, including in the north. The true abolitionists of the day were viewed as radical, and were few in number. That said, most had serious doubts about slavery as an institution, which Goodheart went to great lengths to describe. While the Civil War for many was about state's rights versus federal, for many others, slavery was from the beginning the only issue worth discussing. In studying the history of the Civil War we seem to fluctuate greatly between the causes of the conflict, at times downplaying the role of slavery, at times increasing it. Goodheart, I believe, strikes a true path of understanding, by studying the lives of many, and their varying beliefs on the subject. With this line of understanding, it becomes obvious why emancipation was soon to follow, despite what many originally stated as their willingness to go to war.

On the whole, this was a refreshing, novel, and highly informing read for me on the topic of the Civil War. For others who wish to read about the subject, and are already very familiar with various battles, I highly recommend this book. It will offer new insight. Read more ›

115 of 135 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars As well written as it is researched... April 5, 2011

By Peter Knox

Format:Hardcover

For any followers of the NYTimes' "DISUNION" blog [...] we've been looking forward to this book's release for a long time.

150 years later and the Civil War is as relevant and interesting as ever, and Goodheart focuses this book around that first year, 1861, and how the Civil War REALLY came about.

In this beautifully packaged (deckled/uneven pages!) book, Goodheart spins a well crafted and accurate non-fiction narrative of the story of the start of our country's divide and brings our troubled political past alive in a story that reads unlike any other history book I've read.

It's the rare entry point to the Civil War that can delight any Civil War buff who thinks he knows everything already as well as captivate and interest the vaguely curious and cautious non-historian.

48 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars History as a Visceral Experience April 16, 2011

By Daniel Weitz VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a retired PhD in history, I can assure prospective readers that this is a superbly written, well-researched and thoroughly documented book. The author assumes that the reader has at least the basic knowledge of American History that we all should have; and concentrates on the private motives and inter-personal relationships that lay behind the scenes. While reading the book, you feel as if you are there; dodging the chestnut colored tobacco juice as it makes its way towards the floor. As you might guess, this book is atmospheric; without the true feel for the period you really cannot understand the beliefs, values and motives of the actors. I am looking forward to more works from the author.
My only complaint is that I feel the author is too kind to "Grandma Buchanan". Being inept may not ordinarily be a crime for the average person, but when you are the leader of a country during a crisis it surely is.

More About the Author

Adam Goodheart is a historian, journalist, and travel writer. His articles have appeared in National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine, among others, and he is a regular columnist for the Times' acclaimed Civil War series, "Disunion." He lives in Washington, D.C., and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where he is director of Washington College's C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.