Customer Reviews

Andersonville

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4 star:		(1)
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Normally, I wouldn't bother with a book that was based on a television screenplay. However, I bought this one by mistake (thinking I was getting MacKinlay Kantor's Andersonville) and decided to punish myself for carelessness by reading it.

It must be admitted that the book reads quickly. This is because it is written at about a third grade level. Unfortunately, this picturesque effect is spoiled by the language and content, which seem to indicate that Vaughn thought he was writing for adults.

The characters are invaribly one-dimensional; the noble ones are totally noble, the evil ones purely evil. About the only one who seemed even remotely human was the commandant Wirz, who seemed to at least have some inkling that the prisoners were being mistreated. But he was able to excuse himself because he was just following orders, and, besides, if the prisoners would just show some discipline and obey the rules, everything would be fine.

Wirz's dialect is a scream, as is the accent of the Confederate soldiers. Oddly enough, they seem to be unaware of it; when one Union soldier (Gleason) escapes and makes his way home by temporarily joining up with the Confederates, he continues to speak his good unaccented Pennsylvanian and nobody seems to notice.

This whole Gleason adventure, by the way, is totally irrelevant to the story, seeming no more than an excuse for a sex scene with a Confederate widow.

There are many moral and philosophical issues arising from the Andersonville experience that Vaughn does touch on briefly, for example, to what extent does our environment excuse our actions? But the development of these ideas never scratches the surface, and there is no closure; the ending is incredibly weak and unsatisfying.

One never really gets the sense of what Andersonville was really like, but then, it would be impossible to make a really true film about it. Get a history book with some pictures of Andersonville captives, and you'll see why.

If you want to read a good novel about Andersonville, get Kantor's. It's not as easy to read as this book--and you'll probably have to skip a television show or two to get through it--but it's well worth the effort.

Mr. Vaughan was not attempting to write a text book to be used in Colleges or Universities. His writes to give readers a brief but intertaining, good story for those of use who read for pleasure. Mr. Vaughans books are very well written and are always fun to read.

Robert Vaughan's Andersonville brings to life the horrors that the union prisoners had to deal with on a daily basis. This is not meant to be a historically accurate novel telling the reader all the events that took place in the prison. The book shows the reader what the average prisoner had to go through. Vaughan does a good job showing the savage attacks of the Raiders, a group that attacked new prisoners and robbed them of their supplies. Vaughan also does a great job showing the boredom that filled the prisoners lives. The conflict that man has with himself by not drinking the water and by going a couple of days with out food. This book is a quick read and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat with unique twists in the story line. I recommend this book to Civil war Buffs and anyone who is looking for a good book to read on an airplane or a train.

Andersonville was a most serious death camp for captured Northern Soilders. When I saw the movie it broke my heart to see the way we were treated by southerns. The account was well written and the part where the Raiders were on trial and then the part where they were hung. Showed that there was some justice being served,espically with Wirtz holding them while trial was being readied. The real test was shown with the escape and recapture, it is known now that the first duty of any military personnel is to escape from the enemy. My heart really goes out to those who fought and were captured by the Rebels. In the end of the book the tomestone of Martin Blackburn was a good way to close this book. It os sad to know that Those who died in this conflict put there lives down to defend this country. I pray that we never have a consentration camp here in America with Americans held in it ever again.

Thank you S.R. Haldeman, Scott M. Great Lakes Naval Hospital

Andersonville, is a name that will be forever remembered in infamy by all Civil War Historians. I think the author, Robert Vaughn, captured the terrible reality of this prison camp in his book. Though it did have missing some other details I thought it was very good and deserved to be read.