Customer Reviews

Fields of Fury: The American Civil War

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Although this book is geared towards 9-12 year olds, it is easily educational for kids five times that age. The pictures are fantastic and present emotions and details that I have not seen in many other Civil War books. Although we bought this book for my son, I would easily have bought it for myself. It really does put you smack in the middle of that time period. Very impressive.

James M. McPherson won the Pulitzer Prize for "Battle Cry of Freedom," so he certainly brings impressive credentials to this history of the Civil War for younger readers. "Fields of Fury: The American Civil War" is done as a series of two-page spreads. The right side is a full-page photograph, map, painting, or other illustration; the left side contains 3-5 paragraphs of text, a sidebar of Quick Facts, and some smaller illustrations. After background section on the origins of the Civil War, the slavery issues, and Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the rest of the book is structure around the major battles of the war from Fort Sumter to Appomattox. In between there are looks at both the military side of the war (e.g., the Anaconda Plan, Andersonville prison) and civilian life (e.g., Women at War). The book concludes with a look at Reconstruction, which is followed by a Glossary, decent Bibliography, Civil War Sites on the Web, and Index.

"Field of Fury" touches upon a lot of Civil War topics in a concise manner, using not only descriptions of the battles but personal anecdotes from the soldiers at the battlefront and the civilians at home. Major politicians and soldiers are profiled as well. The result is a solid introduction to the topic of the Civil War. McPherson's narrative is accompanied by black-and-white photographs by Civil War photographers Mathew Brady and Timothy O'Sullivan, period oil paintings, and key campaign and battlefield maps. The result is a nice little introduction to the Civil War with excellent production values, although this is a lot of information for young readers to absord. If a student was looking at a particular topic like the Emancipation Proclamation or a specific battle like Vicksburg, then "Fields of Fury" provides some basic information. You will not get a lot of depth, but you will get some sense of context. This book can also work as a supplemental text to a juvenile history of the Battle of Gettysburg or Sherman's March to the Sea n providing that sort of context as well.

It's a great book that everybody should read. It has got lots of facts about the Civil War. It tells a lot about the people that were involved. I learned that there was a plan named Anaconda Plan where the Union surrounded the South and then they would cut off all their supplies and that John Wilkes Booth had a brother.

Pulitzer Prize winner James McPherson's foray into children's literature, "Fields of Fury: The American Civil War" is a beautiful, well-written book that fits the bill perfectly.

McPherson briefly covers all aspects of the conflict, from "Bleeding Kansas" to the difficulties in Reconstruction. As a Civil War buff (I have over 35 books and have read dozens more) I can think of no main topic he did not touch upon. In fact, I added a few stories to my repartoire for my classes.

Most topics are covered with a two page spread - text on the even pages and a full page photo, map or painting spread on the facing page. Also, with every topic there is a "Quick Facts" section.

McPherson's descriptions of the personalities, the battles and the general strategies of the war are first-rate. He also touches on such topics as how the war was financed, the role of women in the war, the difficulties faced at home by the families of the soldiers.

The publisher recommends this book for 4th to 8th graders. I would have to say 5th-8th graders. There are some graphic images of the war, including famous, but still arresting, photos of Afican Americans digging up buried soldiers (with 6 skulls and a leg still wearing a boot and pants on a litter) for re-burial and a photo of an escaped slave showing his heavily scarred back courtesy of repeated whippings from his owner. Also, the text about the Battle of Shiloh mentions an eyewitness account of a man who was leaning against a tree with his bloated intestines piled up in his lap. I'm not against children learning the awful truth of war and slavery but I'd save introducing those images for kids 10-11 years old.

Fields of Fury: The American Civil War is extremely well organized and extremely well written. Sparkling writing and compelling reading create a moving account of the Civil War. There are very good time lines, pictures, maps, illustrations and quick facts. This is the kind of writing to which all of our children need to be exposed. The book could be an excellent reference for children who are writing papers about this historical period. The author, James M. McPherson, PhD. is an expert on the Civil War. He is a Princeton University professor and the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the book Battle Cry of Freedom.

This book is extremely informative and well written. The author does an excellent job of explaning a difficult topic on a level children can understand, without diluting the information. I'm a history buff, and found myself learning new things in this book.