Customer Reviews

Antietam: Essays on the 1862 Maryland Campaign

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading Murfin, Sears, Priest, and various magazine articles, I thought I would go a little deeper into the wheres and whys of September 1862. What a treat! Dennis Frye is the authority on Harper's Ferry ( who's fault? Miles, McClellan, or Franklin?) Robert Krick must have been a rebel because it seems as if he was right in their midst, and standing next to R. E. Lee at that, as they crossed the Potomac. As for A. Wilson Greene, he knows and has studied McClellan with the best of historians. George Brinton McClellan could have ended the war on several occasions but instead prolonged it and then patted himself on the back. And finally, Gary Gallagher shows us "a season of opportunity...in perspective" splendidly.

As Civil War histories go, this one falls on the upper end of the middle of the pack. The articles are, overall, well-written and well-presented. Although better histories of the 1862 campaign do exist (see James McPherson, "Antietam: Crossroads of Freedom"), this is a good collection of essays.

This may be a bit petty to mention, but the book is square (as opposed to rectangular), and does not fit well on a bookshelf.

I agree with the previous reviewer.

This book hits home and goes deeper into the background of the causes and conflicts arrising from the Maryland Campaign of 1862.

Take this book with you when you visit Antietam National Battlefield. You will come away with a better understanding of what took place before and after America's Bloodiest single day battle.

Highly recommended!