Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff [Hardcover]

Stephen E Ambrose (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press; First Edition edition (1962)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0006AXT1Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,877,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book!, February 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff (Paperback)

This biography of Henry W. Halleck provides great insights into
the life & career of one of the Civil War's most vilified figures. Stephen Ambrose provides a balanced overview and keen
analysis of Halleck and his contributions to the Union war effort. Studying the full story of Halleck's numerous and very
valuable contributions will be an eye-opening experience for many students of the Civil War. Though he may not have been a "great captain," he was an extremely effective organizer and judge of military talent, The "George C. Marshall" of the Civil War! Buy and read this book - you'll thank yourself!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The story behind this book is not actually Henry Halleck, October 16, 2006

By 

Doug (South Bend, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff (Paperback)

I'll not repeat the comments made by the other reviewers since I agree with their sentiments. This is a very informative book about "Old Brains," a man without whom neither Lincoln nor Grant could have suceeded.

The most important fact about this book is its importance for the author. Ambrose is without a doubt one of my favorite historians. This was, I believe, his first published work, the result of his PhD research. Soon after it was published, General Eisenhower read the book. He liked it so much, he invited the young author to meet with him to begin writing an official biography. The rest is history, so to speak. Because of this book, we have other great works of history, great because they relate so much of importance and they relate it to the common man.

Thanks to this little book, we all can read D-Day, Citizen Soldier, and outstanding biographies of Nixon and Eisenhower.

Doug

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful military biography, February 18, 2004

By 

lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff (Paperback)

Henry Halleck, that is the name that would rise a storm of scorn or derision among most Civil War readers. General Halleck have not been well regarded by most Civil War historians since the Civil War. This short biography (90% of 212 pages of text are on his Civil War years) by Stephen Ambrose tries to take a revisionist tack to Hallack's accomplishments, talents and his contribution to the Union cause. Ambrose's effort was to show that Halleck was bit more then just a paper general but an effective organizer and coordinator of the Union war effort. While admitting that Hallack was no battlefield general, his massive intellect on military matter was more suited for support roles to the armies at front, a classical bookworm general.

The book was originally published back in 1962 so the writing may not be as good as Ambrose's later efforts. But its still nicely readable and provides some very insightful views on Halleck's role in the Civil War. Whether you agree with Ambrose or not, is up to you.