The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts [Hardcover]

Burke Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 1988

Wonderfully entertaining look at some intriguing oddities, unusual incidents, and colorful personalities connected with the Civil War. Includes 25 names the war was known by, personal quirks of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and more,

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Wonderfully entertaining look at some intriguing oddities, unusual incidents, and colorful personalities connected with the Civil War. Includes 25 names the war was known by, personal quirks of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and more,

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wings (December 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517371510
• ISBN-13: 978-0517371510
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #653,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars --Civil War Trivia--, August 15, 2002

By 

Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts (Hardcover)

After a lifetime of reading, Burke Davis put together a book of amazing and interesting pieces of information that don't usually show up in the historical accounts of the Civil War.

Here are a few examples of his research:
The Civil War was known by more than twenty-five names. The most unusual: The Brothers War--The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance--The War for the Union and The War of the Rebellion.

Abraham Lincoln had smallpox when he gave the Gettysburg Address and several members of his wife's family were soldiers in the Confederate Army. Also President Lincoln admitted that one of his favorite tunes was "Dixie."

General Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA had twenty-nine horses shot from beneath him during the war years. Belle Boyd started her career as a spy for the South when, at the age of seventeen, she killed a Federal soldier. After the war, about 3,000 former Confederate officers left the South and moved to foreign countries. And there's so much more to learn.

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The stories behind The Story, January 2, 1998

By 

John L. Hoh Jr. "Author and Theologian" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts (Hardcover)

Did you know that the owner of the farm where the first Civil War fighting took place hosted the peace treaty signing in his front parlor in Appomattox? Col Wilmer McClean, seeking to escape the fighting after the First Battle at Bull Run, moved to Southern Virginia and settled in Appomattox. Little did he know the fighting would eventually follow him--and end with the meeting of Grant and Lee in his front parlor. Minutiae and the smaller aspects of the Great War Between the States is all documented in this rather small volume. This is not a stale treatment of those lesser-known facts of the Civil War, but a lively telling of those incidents and thoughts on the Great American Schism. It is hard to put the book down once you start reading it. A must read.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First, and Still the Best of All Civil War Trivia Books!, July 30, 2004

By 

Alan Rockman (Upland, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts (Hardcover)

When "The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts" or, "Our Incredible Civil War" was first published in 1960, America was on the eve of "celebrating" the 100 anniversary of that poignant, defining moment in our history. We were also on the verge of finally bringing those rights to Black Americans that rightfully should have been granted after Appomattox.

Burke Davis' book was an instant bestseller then. And almost 45 years later still is.

Mr. Davis covers the all of the major and minor incidents of the Civil War, from 1812 war veteran and Gettysburg civilian John Burns grabbing his musket and going to fight alongside the Union Iron Brigade at that decisive battle, to the tragedy of Confederate Isidore Guillen, who inherited the horse that his two brothers were killed riding on, only to be mortally wounded himself, to the humorous story of Jason the mule, who would go into the tent of a Confederate colonel late at night because that colonel resembled his owner!

Davis also cites practically all of the amazing inventions of the Civil War, and he was the first historian to cite the story of the C.S.S. Hunley, the Rebel sub that was the first to sink an enemy vessel, but went down with all hands in Charleston Harbor.

There are also enthralling chapters on foreigners who served on both sides, on spies,on famous sea battles, including the one between the U.S.S. Kearsarge and the C.S.S Alabama in the French harbor of Cherbourg, thousands of miles away from North and South,and yes, there is even a chapter on sex in the Civil War too.

This book is a treasure trove for Civil War enthusiasts (I have sent copies of it to my friends) - and the word "trivia" demeans its importance. But I couldn't think of another word to describe it in my review title.

Thank You Very Much for this book, Mr. Burke Davis.