The Coming of the Civil War (Phoenix Books) [Paperback]

Avery O. Craven (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226118940 | ISBN-13: 978-0226118949 | Publication Date: April 15, 1966 | Edition: 2

"In recent years a highly industrious school of historians has begun asking whether the war should have been fought at all and whether it was perhaps not more the fault of the North than of the South. Seeking to revise earlier judgments they have become known as the revisionists, and one of the most gifted and studious of them all is Avery Craven, whose The Coming of the Civil War . . . is one of the landmarks of revisionist literature."—Bruce Catton, American Heritage

". . . those who would examine the democratic process during a period of progressive breakdown, in order to understand the dangers it embodies within itself, will find The Coming of the Civil War a classic analysis."—Louis D. Rubin, Jr., Sewanee Review

"The book has always been recognized, even by its most severe critics, as a work of consummate scholarship."—T. Harry Williams, Baton Rouge Morning Advocate

Product Details

• Paperback: 499 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 2 edition (April 15, 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226118940
• ISBN-13: 978-0226118949
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating antebellum history, November 28, 2000

By 

Chris Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Coming of the Civil War (Phoenix Books) (Paperback)

To me, the dullest part of the Civil War began at Fort Sumter. The greatest deficiency of Ken Burns' celebrated documentary (enough to make it almost useless)is that he spent almost no time on the causes. I have always found the political maneuvering between North and South, between the two great parties(and within them as well), the occasions when secession and war almost happened, and the dramatic compromises that held off disaster to be essential for understanding the war and why it was fought the way it was. The political battles over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Lecompton Constitution are more interesting to me than the dramas of Antietam, Chancellorsville or Gettysburg.

Avery Craven was one of the so-called "revisionist" school of American historians, those academics who asserted that there was blame for the war on both sides, that condemned radical abolitionists and Southern fire-eaters equally. Although he may not have intended it, Professor Craven makes an even more interesting assertion. There were not two sides in this affair but three. The West(what would now be the Middle West)was a region with its own economic interests. And this region, for the most part, wouldn't have gotten all that worked up about slavery if its farmers could have gotten their goods to market. But Southern political ineptitude and indifference to Western interests alienated that region from the South and probably cost the South the war.

All in all, an excellent history of the antebellum United States. Whether you agree with Professor Craven's ideas or not, this book is well worth your time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Moralizing, No Entertainment, Just Truth, September 20, 2010

By 

William P. Vallante (Commack, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coming of the Civil War (Phoenix Books) (Paperback)

I believe it was Avary O. Craven who once said that in depth exploration of the social, political and economic factors which led to the war do not have "the entertainment value of harrowing tales of runaway slaves." He was right of course. Readers will not find any moralizing in this book. That alone will make for a refreshing read. It's not easy reading - but then, understanding the various undercurrents that propelled America to this war isn't an easy thing. But if the reader perseveres, he will emerge with a better understanding of the event, and a realization that the drivel that contemporary historians (for the most part) peddle, is a simplified and dumbed down version of the facts, written, most likely, for a population that has itself been dumbed down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is History Politically Correct?, September 29, 2007

By 

Barrie W. Bracken "Researcher" (Daytona Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coming of the Civil War (Phoenix Books) (Paperback)

MANY HISTORIANS SEEM TO RELEGATE AVERY CRAVEN TODAY TO A POSITION OF PRESENT IRRELEVANCE. TODAY'S READERS MAY NOT FIND HIS IDEAS "POLITICALLY CORRECT" BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS SHOULD HISTORY BE POLITICALLY CORRECT?
CRAVEN IS A GREAT HISTORIAN WHO WILL NOT BE LIKED BY ANY PERSON DEEPLY IMBEDDED IN THE RADICALISM OF EITHER SIDE OF THE MASON AND DIXON LINE. HIS PERSONAL PACIFICISM KEEPS HIM FROM SEEING THIS WAR AS AN IRRESISTABLE CONFLICT. IT MAY BE A GOOD TIME FOR US TO LOOK AT ANY WAR AND ASK IF IT IS IRRESSTIBLE. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS BOOK BUT IT WILL HOPEFULLY MAKE YOU THINK WHICH IS THE PURPOSE OF HISTORY.
A PREVIOUS REVIEWER HAS STATED THAT FOR HIM THE BORING PART OF THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS AT FT. SUMPTER. I FULLY AGREE. THIS BOOK GIVES A FRESH LIGHT ON THE MOST INTERESTING PERIOD OF AMERICAN HISTORY--THE ANTEBELLUM PERIOD. A GREAT BOOK WELL WORTH READING. sIMPLY LOOK AT THE TABLE OF CONTENTS.