Customer Reviews

Half Not Told, The

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This book establishes Filbert him as one of the rare experts on the Civil War with regards to how it affected the average person in that turbulant period. Extremely well-written, flawless historcal documentation and friendly reading.

For anyone interested in the Civil War, this book is an absolute goldmine of information, reflections and original insight!!!

I have just read The Half Not Told and was fascinated by the tale of a town ripped apart by divided loyalties during the Civil War,
a town devastated by the war, yet with a story completely unlike that of towns truly in the South. The author tells of a Border Town which was ravaged by both the North and the South. The book introduces you to the very real people who lived in the town through this violent time, often quoting their own words from a letter or a diary. The town was populated by colorful characters, many of whom are introduced and then reappear later, maybe several times, as the history of the town unfolds. The events described are exciting and violent and often very personal. I found myself anxious to get to the next chapter to see what would happen in this engrossing tale, as I often do when I'm reading a work of fiction; yet this is a true story, a history with extremely good documentation and pictures of the people and events of the time. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in an exciting and accurate picture of a town which experienced the Civil War in a way you may not have known about before.

I live in Platte County Missouri, just south of St. joe. It was very interesting to see what happened in that time period many years ago. Heck! it could've happened where i'm living! As a Civil War buff, some of these things really hit close to home, and I overall enjoyed it.

I have just read The Half Not Told and was fascinated by the tale of a town ripped apart by divided loyalties during the Civil War,
a town devastated by the war, yet with a story completely unlike that of towns truly in the South. The author tells of a Border Town which was ravaged by both the North and the South. The book introduces you to the very real people who lived in the town through this violent time, often quoting their own words from a letter or a diary. The town was populated by colorful characters, many of whom are introduced and then reappear later, maybe several times, as the history of the town unfolds. The events described are exciting and violent and often very personal. I found myself anxious to get to the next chapter to see what would happen in this engrossing tale, as I often do when I'm reading a work of fiction; yet this is a true story, a history with extremely good documentation and pictures of the people and events of the time. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in an exciting and accurate picture of a town which experienced the Civil War in a way you may not have known about before.

Preston Filbert's The Half Not Told: The Civil War In A Frontier Town focuses on a part of the American Civil War that is often overlooked or downplayed by other sources that concentrate on the armies and campaigns in the East. The Half Not Told is about the Civil War in the West, particularly in Missouri. The frontier town of St. Joseph, Missouri, which became torn apart and saw its fortunes fall due to stagflation, is a reflection of how dramatically the war changed Western American life forever. The Half Not Told draws very heavily upon primary sources, as its highly extensive endnotes section and a bibliographical essay attest. The Half Not Told is a very welcome contribution to Civil War studies, and highly recommended for anyone with an interest Civil War history -- particularly because much of the telling is in the eye-witness words of the people who were there.

I am a native of St. Joseph so this was very interesting to me. Preston obviously did a great deal of research in preparing this volume. He keeps the discription of events and people easy to read and digest. His newspaper background comes through in his narrative. I am not a Civil War History buff, but I really enjoyed the book. But then you would expect me to since I am Preston's Father.

A nice easy read about the Civil War in St. Joe, Missouri. St. Joe was one of the farthest points north in the border state of Missouri. Many of its citizens were from the South. It also had 2,000 slaves and was right across the river from free Kansas. At first the citizens of this small town desired to stay out of the fray and be neutral. However, a Southerner sabotaged a railroad bridge which resulted in a train wreck killing 20 people. This turned people against each other. Society and its members turned upon itself, and their was a Civil War in St. Joe.

This is a nice easy read about a little known conflict in the western U.S.

I give Filbert credit for writing an interesting story about St. Joe. Most Civil War historians focus on the East, and this story is about the western portion of the conflict. A good read.