Customer Reviews

The Civil War (American Heritage Library)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to agree with a prior reviwer in that this is a very good book for one just beginning to delve into the sad, glorious, heroic, sordid and heartbreaking tale that is the American Civil War.

This book serves as a fine outline of the beginning, prosecution and conclusion of the war. It is a slim volume so do not expect a extensive economic analysis of the conditions prior to the war, political events leading up to the war or during it; but as a brief overview of the war it is as good as it gets.

Catton is lyrical and easy to read as usual; a fine preview to his Army of the Potomac Trilogy.

This is a book for the person who wants the essence of the Civil War told by an engaging writer.

Bruce Catton is one of the best Civil War writers of the last fifty years. His detailed studies of aspects and campaigns of the war set the standard for CW writing for many who take more than a casual interest in the subject. This book displays his easy writing that mixes interesting facts with a style that never bores or bogs down in academic prose.

For the student or curious who want the broad sweep of the war explained in a couple of hundred pages this book is excellent. Its all here: the orignis, major campaigns in the East and West and the politics that often defined the conflict. Strictly an overview, it is not for the serious CW reader, but would serve as an excellent starting point for someone looking to begin an affiliation with America's most significant conflict.

This is a great book to read if you are just beginning to learn about the Civil War. Catton, best known for his biography on Abraham Lincoln, gives an understandable basic summary of why the war started, how it progressed, and how it ended. I wish it would have gone into more detail about the strategy used, but otherwise well done.

In my opinion, still the best one volume book on the American Civil War. I use it as the primary text in a semester high school class. I find the writing clear and concise, yet with a high degree of moving readability. Something that is a good read for those wanting an overview of this crossroads event in our nation's history.

Well-written short (~280 pages) introduction to the Civil War, hits on all the important points with enough supporting detail. Obviously won't give you the detail that Battle Cry of Freedom or Foote's 3-volume opus will, but its succinctness makes it easier to track the concurrent happenings of the war (it's tough to remember what Grant's army had done last after 100 pages of reading what's happening in Virginia). The scholarship is a little behind the times (since it was written 50 years ago), but there didn't appear to be any egregious errors in it.

Even after you've graduated to McPherson or Foote, the book is handy to keep around for its chronology (which is indexed!) and maps. Ultimately, though, if you have any significant interest in the Civil War the book will leave you wanting much more.

It is often difficult to write an interesting book about a well-known event such as the Civil War. Additionally, books about wars often bog down with facts and battle details that interrupt the story. Bruce Catton has done an excellent job of creating the "story" of the Civil War. This is an interesting and very readable book.

This is a very good book for what it is. It is a high level view of the Civil War. It is not an account of the battles that made up the war. It covers great battles like Antietam in less than a page, or a little more for Vicksburg and Gettysburg. It is not like The Red Badge of Courage, detailing what a battle was like for the soldiers. It briefly covers the pre-war years and the entire war, mostly at the campaign level. There is brief coverage of the assassination of Lincoln and the aftermath of the war. It is 279 pages plus appendices, and at least a third of the ages are filled with photographs or sketches, so there are fewer than 200 pages of text. The leading generals are described briefly, and a few colonels are mentioned. About half a chapter are devoted to Lincoln and Davis.

There is one chapter on the naval warfare, which covers the blockades, the blockade runners, and the Monitor and Merrimac. Another chapter tells, generally, what life was like for the soldiers. I thought that Chapter 12, The Destruction of Slavery, was particularly good. It gives great insight on how a great war takes over a nation and causes unintended and unforeseen changes. The book covers the international interplay with Great Britain, France, and Russia, and domestic politics, particularly the 1864 presidential election.

Some will say that the book is boring - that would depend on your level of interest in the Civil War. Lacking detail of the battles and the personalities of the soldiers, it does not grab intense interest. But you will come away with an understanding of the major issues, the major campaigns, and the inter-relatedness of many aspects. Many accounts of the Civil War give undue attention to the campaigns in the east, at the expense of campaigns in the west. This book remedies that, giving due attention to the campaigns along the Mississippi River and Tennessee.

There are several maps at the end of the book. I did not discover them until I was half way through the book. Like the book, they show the campaign-level maneuvering of the armies. I always want more maps, better maps, but these are not too bad for this sort of book.
One lasting impression I got was how profoundly brave the soldiers were. What I have read of the Revolutionary War, it was hard to get soldiers, especially militia, to stand and fight the redcoats. The Civil War soldiers knew how terribly deadly the battles were, but were willing to face likely death or terrible injury. Catton does not focus on this at all, but it came through to me. He does say that the weapons of the Civil War, especially the rifles, were far more deadly than those of previous wars, and tactics had not caught up with the deadliness of the weapons.

My great-grandfather fought on the Union side at the battle of Chickamauga. The Union army was defeated, but my understanding is that my great-grandfather's unit fought well and made it possible for most of the Union army to retreat safely to Chattanooga.

It is a sad book, and it should be, because it was a sad episode in our history. The Union won the war by unleashing horrible death and destruction on the Confederacy and suffering horrible losses of their own soldiers.

I would like to pass on to others that the text of this book is exactly the same as the text for Bruce Catton's "American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War". I highly recommend the later book as the many illustrations add much to the text.

"The Civil War" is a good surface exploration of a topic that has inspired countless volumes of books, and will continue to do so for many years to come. I believe this text would be helpful to someone who has been away from the topic of the Civil War for a long time (as I was) and needs a refresher course, or for someone who has an interest in the war, has gotten into it a little, but wants to get a nice overview so they can appreciate their later explorations on the topic. It serves as a great foundation of information for a topic that is as deep as it is wide.
Bruce Catton was a lyrical writer, not a usual quality of historians, and his prose at times is wonderfully, and simply, beautiful. That is a strength of the text.
I can see some readers being irritated at his obvious infatuation with the Confederacy, and its doomed cause, but I think that is just his natural sympathy for the "loser" in the conflict. Mr. Catton makes it very obvious that the right side won, and that the real tragedy of the Civil War was that the whole thing could have been avoided.
The book is arranged chronologically and explores the eastern and western theaters of the war, as well as the political and home front aspects. He weaves them together into a nice tapestry that clearly demonstrates the importance to our nation's history of this most monumental of events.
This edition of the text also has period photographs and maps dispersed throughout the chapters and it includes a nice (and thorough) index as well as two vastly informative chronologies.
This book is worth adding to your History shelf.

I noticed that the reviews of Bruce Catton's book are actually reviews of Ken Burns PBS Civil War book.

Would like to see reviews of the latter book.