Civil War in the American West [Paperback]

Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 1993

As most Americans of the 1860s fixed their attention on the battlefields of Shiloh and Manassas, another war raged on the largely unsettled Western frontier. This splendid work by the author of The Patriot Chiefs restores this "other" Civil War to its true, epic proportions. With formidable scholarship and irresistible narrative ease, Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., tells of the Yankee armada that foundered in the Louisiana bayous; of the bloody fighting on the ridges and prairies of the border states. where a Cherokee guerrilla leader was the last Confederate general to surrender -- two months after Appomattox: and of the U.S. Army's brutal campaigns against the Plains Indians in theaters as far apart as Minnesota and Colorado.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This definitive history, BOMC and History Book Club alternates in cloth, is both the first comprehensive examination of the Civil War as it was fought west of the Mississippi and a fine account of the 1861-1865 Indian wars that drew thousands of Union troops away from the main Eastern theaters. Maps.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Josephy has attempted the first one-volume integration of various aspects of the Civil War in the West, "the western fringe of the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific." He has largely succeeded, though some may quibble with his omission of the early struggle in Missouri. Several of the campaigns, such as Sib ley's New Mexican, Bank's Red River, and the Pea Ridge campaign have gener ated a large literature of their own. They are now linked with little-noticed, but horrific Indian campaigns that destroyed more tribes and seized more land than any others. Immensely readable and well documented, The Civil War in the Amer ican West will serve a wide range of readers as a more than adequate introduction to a vast, frequently overlooked theater of the war. BOMC and History Book Club alternates.
- Thomas E. Schott, Office of History, 17th Air Force, Sembach, Germany
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (July 27, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679740031
• ISBN-13: 978-0679740032
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #822,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish There Were 6 Stars!, September 27, 2003

By 

Michael E. Fitzgerald (Kingwood, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Civil War in the American West (Hardcover)

This is an unusually good work. Focusing on the Civil War west of the Mississippi, the author covers not only the major North-South actions, but also the Indian actions which were necessary as well. There is full coverage of the Bayou Teche campaign in Louisiana, Pea Ridge, New Mexico, the Red River Campaign, the Minnesota Sioux uprising, Sabine Pass, the War on the western migration routes, the Mormons, etc, etc.

This is as good as it gets. The writing is clear and concise, the events sequential. This history is written so well that at times you will think you are reading a suspense novel. This is a very excellent work by a good historian who just also happens to be a gifted writer.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for anyone interested in the history of the West, March 25, 2005

By 

A. L. Jones (Billings, MT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civil War in the American West (Paperback)

This is so well-done, deep analysis blended with suspense, characters, scene-setting, motivations, terrain, it's exemplary history. While it covers a generally ignored portion of the Civil War, as other reviewers point out it really explains so much of the next 20+ years West of the Mississippi from the Sioux Wars, the Western Railroads, the Denver Mint, the odd hybrid culture of former Confederates that influences the West still, and more. What surprised me is that there haven't been far more books, movies, and television stories based on the adventures Josephy recounts...it's a lot more riveting stuff than most.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Broad Overview of the Western Civil War, April 3, 2000

By 

T. C. Ross (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Civil War in the American West (Paperback)

Josephy does an excellent job of giving the broad overview of the Civil War in the American West. From paroled Confederates fighting Native Americans in the upper Mid West to a Confederate attempt to take California to the many battles in the bayous of Louisiana, Josephy tells in a riveting fashion the story of those men who fought so far from the better-known battlefields of the East.

The biggest flaw with the book -- and some might consider it a feature -- is that the reader is likely to be left wanting more information. In tackling as large a swath of time and geography as Josephy has, it is inevitable that readers will find them looking for additional sources of information on the U.S. West in the 1860s.