Customer Reviews

EXPANSION OF EVERYDAY LIFE

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This broad-ranging text covers daily life, customs, and technology in a variety of American settings during the Civil War and post-war periods. Inevitably, it doesn't give a whole lot of detail on each topic, but this is a very good place for general readers to start. The descriptions of farm life are particularly detailed and helpful. One complaint I do have is that the author does not footnote his quotes from primary sources, making it impossible to follow a reference up. Like most histories of daily life, this volume is short on information about mentalities and beliefs. Also, probably deliberately, it contains little information on political events and almost none on events in the South during Reconstruction. The effects of the Civil War on daily life and thought get rather short shrift. Nevertheless, this book does cover a lot of information and does so in a clear, useful fashion.

A great book for students studying the Civil War (like myself). Gives amazing insight to the lives of people during the Reconstrucion era after the war. Pages of great information about soldiers' lives, homes, churches, schools, rites of passage, working life, daily woes, and enjoying life in the late 19th century. However, the info somewhat dry, and gets a little tedious at times, but the amount of details and great facts evens it out a bit.

I think this is, perhaps, the finest book I have ever read on social history. I'm not kidding. After reading this "encyclopedia" (for that is what it truly is) on every aspect of life as it was during and just after the Civil War era, I actually feel as if I went back in time and visited the past first hand. Forget about "Everyday Life During the Civil War" and the other writer's guide books out there. "Expansion of Everyday Life 1860 - 1876" leaves no stone unturned, covering topics extensively such as the role of religion in the daily lives of the people, courtship, death, birth, clothing, prescription drugs of the era, what was eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, bathing, and schooling. Life in the city, in a town, and on the farm is covered pretty equally where the differences occur. The lives of the (freed) blacks is also mentioned throughout the text. Other topics covered include such taboo subjects as sex and abortion, homosexuality, as well as women's rights. But it is done not in the typical 21st century liberal PC style so prominent in current history books. One gets the impression that author, Daniel Sutherland, has a true passion for truth in social history and is not out to promote a political agenda. He does get a bit tedious at times (which I absolutely love - every detail of life is here!) but never dry, as another reviewer wrote. If you are a student of history, which I am, then I am sure you will feel the same as I.
There is not another history book of this era that I would recommend higher than this.

I found this book to be extremely information about life in the 1860s as I am into Civil War Re-enacting. There were so many interesting facts of everyday life, etc. that it was as if I had been transported back nearly 150 years.

I bought this book because I had read "The Reshaping of Everyday Life : 1790-1840" by Jack Larkin. Both books were originally published in the 'Everyday Life in America' series. I really enjoyed "Reshaping" and hoped that "Expansion" would be of similar caliber.

Given the page constraints (170 pages of text) this book does a good job. However, given the vast increase in the size of the USA between 1840 and 1876, the coverage is necessarily thinner. Everything from the frontier to the South, to New York tenements to established rural districts is covered, the only exception being the extremely rich (who are well covered in other books).

The main problem is that so much is covered that a reader might feel that he knows all about living in the US during this time period, and that would not be accurate. Some areas are left out almost entirely. For example, the West Coast is almost completely ignored except for Virginia City. Unfortunately, the only solution I see is either a much bigger book, or several books covering each of the subtopics.

That is the reason this book only gets three stars: the coverage is broad but shallow. It is a good introduction to the time period, but that is all.