Civil War Journal: The Leaders (v. 1) [Hardcover]

William C. Davis (Editor), Brian C. Pohanka (Editor), Don Troiani (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Civil War Journal | Publication Date: March 1, 1997

This is the first book in a series of three developed from the popular History Channel series Civil War Journal. The Leaders explores the Federals and Confederates who had the greatest influence on how the war was fought. Illustrated and indexed.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Cable TV's History Channel produced the marvelous 130-episode Civil War Journal. Now we have the first of a three-volume series compiling the best features of that show. (The second volume, The Battles, will be published in October.) In this first volume, historians Davis and Brian C. Pohanka (both consultants to the series) and artist Don Troiani, assisted by more than a dozen contributors, have created a stunning visual history of 16 men who played significant roles in the American Civil War. From all the famous and infamous leaders of that conflict, the editors have selected seven Federals (e.g., McClellan, Grant, Hancock), seven Confederates (e.g., Davis, Jackson, Lee), and two civilians (John Brown and Frederick Douglass). The penetrating biographies, balanced and candid, focus on the personal and professional lives of these men and how they earned their place in the war's history. This high-quality product is strongly recommended for American history collections.?Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Brunswick, Me.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Developed from the popular History Channel series, Civil War Journal: The Leaders features eighteen readable biographies of men who led their fellow citizens during the conflict, both on and off the battlefield. Many were generals or soldiers, while others fought slavery, created entire industries, wrote impassioned speeches and articles, and enacted legislation. This readable volume features hundreds of period photographs, letters, sketches, engravings, and maps to illuminate the text, along with the insights of leading contemporary scholars.
Read about the lives and influential actions of:
? John Brown
? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
? Jefferson Davis
? Fredrick Douglass
? Nathan Bedford Forrest
? Ulysses S. Grant
? Winfield Scott Hancock
? Stonewall Jackson
? Robert E. Lee
? James Longstreet
? George B. McClellan
? John S. Mosby
? Philip Sheridan
? William Tecumseh Sherman
? Daniel E. Sickles
? Jeb Stuart
...and more! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 463 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558534377
• ISBN-13: 978-1558534377
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,729,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good comprehensive view of the major figures in the War., February 20, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Winchester, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Civil War Journal: The Leaders (v. 1) (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent resource for both the amateur and professional Civil War historian. This book provides the key facts with some insight into the lives of some of the main figures of the American Civil War. As a professional Civil War Historian it can be admitted at times that there are certain things that we all forget and this book makes it a lot easier to refer to than trying to page through a 1000 page biography. This book is a very good refresher and is extremely easy to read and understand. I also like the choice of photogrpahs that are used throughout the book. These are some of the more famous photographs taken and in this sense it provides a good introduction for the amateur Civil War Historian. I recommend this book as a must for any Civil War library. This along with the other two books in the series are a must for every Civil War Historian regardless to the degree of study of that individual.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy reading and interesting facts, January 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Civil War Journal: The Leaders (v. 1) (Hardcover)

This book, although full of intersting facts, is very easy to read. It is a general overview of the more popular and historic figures of the civil war. Although this book is fairly well informed, it falls short on some of the backgrounds of the war leaders. The main focus of the book is the time that they spend in the war, there is maybe 2-4 pages in life prior and after the war. This is a good book for a collection and I would recommend it to those who have a new found interest in the civil war. This book is not the cornerstone of anyones collection, but a good reference tool and outline of the main leaders of the civil war.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Civil War Journal in Print, August 23, 2009

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civil War Journal: The Leaders (Hardcover)

"Civil War Journal" was a series that I enjoyed immensely when it began its telecast run in the 1990s. This volume is one of the print outcomes of that project, edited by William Davis, Brian Pohanka, and Don Troiani (a well respected artist).

The focus of this volume is the leaders. There is parallelism in numbers of chapters on Union and Confederate leaders. In addition, there is a chapter on John Brown and another on West Point classmates (many leaders on opposite sides of the Civil War still retained respect and friendship with their putative enemies). The chapter on West Point classmates is especially interesting, as it lays out the bonds developed there--and how these affected interactions among classmates later on (e.g., George Custer sometimes crossed the battle lines to attend a wedding or birthday of a classmate--page 51).

Who are some of the subjects of this volume? On the Confederate side, we see Jefferson Davis (formerly a combat officer in the Mexican War as well as Secretary of War), Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Jeb Stuart, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Singleton Mosby). Union leaders? George McLellan, Ulysses Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Winfield Scott Hancock, Daniel Sickles, Phil Sheridan, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Other chapters" Frederick Douglass and "Boy Generals."

A bit more detail on one of the chapters might be useful. The chapter on the "Boy Generals" focuses on youthful leaders. Stephen Ramseur was a general by age 25. William Roberts was the youngest Confederate general by age 23; Union general Gelusha Pennypacker attained general's rank at age twenty! Other "boy generals"--George Custer, Fitzhugh Lee, Micah Jenkins, Nelson Miles, Francis Barlow, Emory Upton, and so on. Fascinating reading!

Sometimes, there is not the detail that I would like, but this still does well at what it does.