The Great Task Remaining: The Third Year of Lincoln's War [Hardcover]

William Marvel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 2010

The Great Task Remaining is a striking, often poignant portrait of people balancing their own values—rather than ours—to determine whether the horrors attending Mr. Lincoln’s war were worth bearing in order to achieve his ultimate goals. 

As 1863 unfolds, we see the disaster at Chancellorsville, the battle of Gettysburg, and the end of the siege of Vicksburg. Then, astonishingly, the Confederacy springs vigorously back to life after the Union triumphs of the summer, setting the stage for Lincoln’s now famous speech on the Pennsylvania battlefield. Without abandoning the underlying sympathy for Lincoln, Marvel makes a convincing argument for the Gettysburg Address as being less of a paean to liberty than an appeal to stay the course in the face of rampant antiwar sentiment. 

The Great Task Remaining offers a provocative history of a dramatic year—a year that saw victory and defeat, doubt and riot—as well as a compelling story of a people who clung to the promise of a much-longed-for end.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Civil War historian Marvel (Lincoln's Darkest Year), a winner of the Lincoln Prize, demonstrates his usual command of archival and published sources in this significantly revisionist account of the Civil War's third year from the Union perspective. He challenges conventional triumphalism, demonstrating comprehensively that despite Vicksburg and Gettysburg, by 1863 Northern citizens and soldiers were increasingly and openly wondering whether preserving the union and ending slavery were worth the cost of Mr. Lincoln's war. Disillusion and war-weariness had set in: the war's only fruits seemed to be moral and political degradation, dangerous constitutional precedents, tens of thousands dead and maimed. The Battle of Chickamauga appeared to have restored the stalemate. Marvel particularly conveys the looming crisis of the impending expiration of the three-year enlistments that were the Union army's norm. That, combined with the increasing reluctance of Northern men to volunteer or send their sons, could have ended the war by default. Romance and adventure or misery and peril—which emotions would prevail? As Marvel conclusively demonstrates, the coin remained in the air as 1863 came to an end. 32 b&w photos, 6 maps. (June 22)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

For Abraham Lincoln, the Union army, and the general population of the North, 1863 was a pivotal year, characterized by extreme political and military turbulence and emotional highs and lows. The year encompassed the shattering defeats at Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville, a rising tide of antiwar sentiment, the near-simultaneous victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, draft riots in New York, and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Marvel surveys this critical year in detail. This is less a portrait of Lincoln himself and more a portrait of the general state of the Union under the stress of war. Marvel portrays a population that is war-weary, confused concerning war aims, and less than enthusiastic about the sacrifices required for the war effort. Marvel places considerable emphasis upon the leadership and actions of the Copperheads, and he views many of them as principled opponents of Lincoln's policies. This is a well-researched and well-written study that will be a fine addition to Civil War collections. --Jay Freeman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (June 22, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061899064X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618990641
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WILLIAM MARVEL is the author of Lincoln's Darkest Year, Mr. Lincoln Goes to War, Lee's Last Retreat, Andersonville, and several other acclaimed books on the Civil War. He has won a Lincoln Prize, the Douglas Southall Freeman Award, and the Bell Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Series Continues, July 14, 2010

By 

Hegelian (Concord, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Task Remaining: The Third Year of Lincoln's War (Hardcover)

This is the third volume (of a projected four, each devoted to a separate year) in William Marvel's history of the Civil War from the Union perspective. Marvel's history is unlike any other. This is no exercise in re-evaluation of Union or Confederate strategy or an attempt to understand why the Union prevailed or the South lost. Marvel portrays the war as a great tragedy, one that the antagonists are increasingly reluctant to continue, and his impressive research is evocative of the actual thoughts and feelings of the time, both among the troops and at home. Even well-read Civil War enthusiasts will learn much from this book.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disjointed and dissapointing follow up, August 7, 2010

By 

R. C Sheehy "deadsox" (Foxboro,MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Task Remaining: The Third Year of Lincoln's War (Hardcover)

Having read William Marvel's previous books on Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Civil War, I had a great deal of high expectations regarding this book. Sadly, I found it greatly lacking in a number of ways and a poor follow on to the previous works. For one thing, the book lacks the insightful commentary of his previous works and the sharp almost laser like focus he brought to his work. The Great Task Remaining meanders all over the place and it is really hard to tell where one story begins and another ends.

The writing left a great deal to be desired as did the structure of the book. Trivial contests that have rightfully been consigned to the ash bin of history are given greater play than the Battle's of Gettysburg and Vicksburg combined. The impact of the Emancipation Proclamation is portrayed as entirely negative, when it is mentioned at all. All in all this was not a good follow up to his previous books.

I will say in the positive that the elements were there for this to be a wonderful follow up. He had the same great style of using soldiers correspondence and portraying the war as much from their perspective as that of the generals. Marvel is to be commended for trying to show the anger and desperation of the soldiers with the government as well as the fouled up bounties paid and even worse conscription act. Sadly, he completely ignores the Confederate side except when he has to mention them.

All in all this is not a good book by most measures. I would strongly recommend passing on this one and hopefully he will learn the lesson from this book and write a better history of the War's final year.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not one of his good books, August 25, 2010

By 

James W. Durney (Tampa Bay area) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Great Task Remaining: The Third Year of Lincoln's War (Hardcover)

William Marvel is a respected historian, an excellent author who has produced some very good books. This is not one of his good books and could be the worst book he will write. The first line inside the dust jacket states "Revisionist history at its' best". This large and disjointed book makes every effort to exceed that sentence. This leads to social history being pushed forward at the expense of political and military history.
The thoughts and actions of Grant, Lincoln, Davis and Lee are less important than privates and civilians. Marvel takes a harsh view of the war in which the glass is always half empty. There is little analysis of campaigns or the positive things that are occurring for the North.
Being an excellent author, his ideas are very convincing and his positions seem logical. The problem being what he says is often questionable if not wrong. In a wish to write a "Revisionist history", Marvel has produced very little of value.