Army Life in a Black Regiment: and Other Writings (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Author), R. D. Madison (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a Unitarian minister, was a fervent member of New England's abolitionist movement, an active participant in the Underground Railroad, and not only corresponded with John Brown before the ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry, but was part of a group that supplied material aid to Brown. When the Civil War broke out, his reputation, enhanced by his impassioned articles about Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner in the Atlantic, made him the perfect candidate to head the first regiment of emancipated slaves, and in 1862, he was commissioned as a colonel for the troops training in the Sea Islands off the coast of the Carolinas.

Army Life in a Black Regiment is Higginson's stirring account of his wartime experiences. Shaped by American Romanticism and imbued with Higginson's interest in both man and nature, the narrative ranges from detailed reports on daily life to a vivid description of the author's near escape from cannon fire to sketches that conjure up the beauty and mystery of the Sea Islands.

This edition of Army Life also features a selection of Higginson's essays, including "Nat Turner's Insurrection" and "Emily Dickinson's Letters".

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140436219
• ISBN-13: 978-0140436211
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > History > Military > Life & Institutions
  • #56 in Books > History > Military > Regiments

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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best non-fiction work to come out of the Civil War, May 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Army Life in a Black Regiment: and Other Writings (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Several years ago I urged John Seelye to edit this work for Penguin. A couple of years after that, he asked me to do it instead, and I did. This is a remarkable book about a literate Yankee (Higginson "discovered" the poet Emily Dickinson) who "discovers" the South. It's also "about" Black soldiers in a white war, white officers in a Black regiment, self-discovery, rivers, and hope. Much of the imagery and characterization in the movie GLORY seems to have been lifted from this book: it is, after all, a first-hand narrative of war by an idealist sorely tested by politics and physical hardship. Higginson's writing of the book is in part his attempt to deal with what today we would call Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder, and it is no wonder that the tone sometimes reminds the reader of Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River." Because the teller of this story emerges as an interesting person per se, this edition includes some of his other essays, ranging from his fascination with slave rebellion to his appreciation for poetry.