Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles [Library Binding]

Brian K. Burton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2001

The first campaign in the Civil War in which Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia, the Seven Days Battles were fought southeast of the Confederate capital of Richmond in the summer of 1862. Lee and his fellow officers, including "Stonewall" Jackson, James Longstreet, A. P. Hill, and D. H. Hill, pushed George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac from the gates of Richmond to the James River, where the Union forces reached safety. Along the way, Lee lost several opportunities to harm McClellan. The Seven Days have been the subject of numerous historical treatments, but none more detailed and engaging than Brian K. Burton's retelling of the campaign that lifted Southern spirits, began Lee's ascent to fame, and almost prompted European recognition of the Confederacy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A thoroughly researched and well-written volume that will surely be the starting point for those interested in this particular campaign." -- Journal of American History

"A welcome addition to scholarship that should be the standard work on its subject for some time to come." -- Journal of Military History

"A well-written, thoroughly researched study of the Seven Days.... Provides thorough and reasonable analyses of the commanders on both sides." -- Georgia Historical Quarterly

"A full and measured account marked by a clear narrative and an interesting strategy of alternating the testimony of generals with their grand plans and the foot soldiers who had to move, shoot, and communicate in the smoky underbrush." -- The Virginia Magazine

About the Author

Brian K. Burton is Dean and Professor of Management at the College of Business and Economics, Western Washington University. He is author of The Peninsula and Seven Days: A Battlefield Guide.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 528 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253339634
• ISBN-13: 978-0253339638
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #613,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Seven Days analyzed, but not humanized., April 16, 2002

By 

Chris Carter (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles (Library Binding)

I approached this book with the high expectations of a readable and thorough account of the Seven Day's battles, and mostly I think that Mr. Burton has succeeded. However, I found that it really wasn't quite as readable as I had hoped. I tended to get bogged down in the details of the book, especially in the battle scenes, which I really had high hopes for. Instead of the "you are there" realism that authors such as Gordon Rhea provide, I instead was struck by the way that the writing almost obscured the action.

Burton tends to fill his tactical descriptions with somewhat too much information, such as the location, movements and name of every single regiment on the field. Now while this is of course necessary for a good understanding of a battle, in this case it tends to overwhelm the actual fighting, leaving the sense that it is more a recitation of troop movements instead of the exciting details of a fight. The end result, at least for me, was confusion, coupled with the desire for a more intimate explanation of the battle. There just isn't a good balance between action and analysis. After having visited the battlefield, I longed to read of the breakthrough at Gaines Mill in a personal, action-oriented manner. Instead, I came away with a pretty good idea of who was where, but no sense of just what they had accomplished. The emotion is simply not there, just the facts. Perhaps emotion just tends to obscure the truths of a battle, but I like the sense of "being there", and of knowing what the soldiers were experiencing first hand. While Burton does make use of period accounts, they just aren't as effective as they could be.

To me, the whole book seemed to be geared more towards strategy and troop movements, with a minimal emphasis on the actual fighting. In this respect, it does a fine job, and is actually an entertaining read in that respect. I was just left somewhat unfulfilled that the tactical side of the book wasn't as good.

As the previous reviewer mentioned, this book is not for the beginner. A moderate knowledge of the war seems to be assumed, and provided you are a Civil War buff, this should not be a problem.

Overall, it is a pretty good book. I don't know that I would call it the definitive account of the Seven Days though. Maybe so, if you are mostly interested in the strategic side, but the battle descriptions just lack the "spark" that makes you a part of the action. If you like the writing of such authors as Gordon Rhea and John Hennessy, you might come away feeling a little unsatisfied, as I did. I would recommend this book as a good analysis of the strategy and command decisions of the campaign, but perhaps Sears' "To the Gates of Richmond" is better at the human aspects of the action.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy companion to Clifford Dowdey's Masterwork, August 2, 2002

By 

Jim Scott "troonglfer" (Wailea, Maui, Hawai'i, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles (Library Binding)

This is, by far, the best treatment of the Seven Days since Clifford Dowdey's best book, "THE SEVEN DAYS: THE EMERGENCE OF LEE" (1964)...since re-released under a different title, "LEE TAKES COMMAND." Considering that these two titles are separated by almost 40 years, that says volumes about how Dowdey's book has stood the test of time and how Burton's modernizes the scholarship of this most important campaign. Anyone studying Lee's first campaign should own this book, and read it in conjunction with Dowdey's treatment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and Thorough, August 27, 2011

By 

Amanda Warren - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles (Paperback)

I loved and lived this book! I will not go into a detailed overview as others have already covered that territory, but instead will point out two admirable assets of this work. The first is that the author penetrated General McClellan's mind and personality and, I felt, solved the mystery of his baffling Civil War performance. His classmates at West Point fully expected that McClellan was bound for military glory, yet he failed to achieve his predicted destiny. Throughout the book Burton revisits this question and offers many insights into McClellan's state of mind. I felt that he came closest in the comment that McClellan harbored a mortal dread of failure. This is true of gifted people, especially those like George McClellan whose intellectual gifts are recognized and celebrated early in life. Obviously, it is not as simple as that and many other factors are addressed, but this represents one of many intriguing points made by the author. Another unique perspective of this book is the author's divergence from the usual blame assigned to Confederate generals who commanded during the Seven Days, most notably Stonewall Jackson. Instead of easy accusations, Burton analyzes everyone's performance in depth, including Lee who is not exempt from his microscope. The result is a balanced and seemingly reliable view which convincingly exonerates Jackson for his apparent inaction of the first few days until Glendale when his failure to contribute clearly undermined the Confederate cause. Once again, Burton's grasp of the generals' personalities in their complexity lifts this book to a higher level of understanding. I appreciated the detail and intricate descriptions of troop involvement down to the regimental, and sometimes even company, level. The book does not gloss over the moment-by-moment unfolding of battles or the viewpoint of the common soldier. It's all here, in addition to the author's theory of how the Seven Days represented a kind of microcosm of the whole war to come, as well as what could have been had the battles concluded differently. If you love to delve into the meat of Civil War history, you must read this book!