A History of US: Book 6: War, Terrible War [Paperback]

Joy Hakim (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195077563 | ISBN-13: 978-0195077568 | Publication Date: May 26, 1994

Details the events surrounding the Civil War and its aftermath.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up-Hakim tries to show readers the horrors of slavery and the war that ended it, but format and content weaknesses limit the usefulness of this series entry. Short chapters cover an aspect of slavery or the war, or discuss a person or group that played a large role in the era. While some of the stories and portraits make for interesting reading, the overall result may be confusing to the intended audience. The tone of the text is appropriate for YAs, but there is only minimal background about how the disagreement over slavery escalated into war, and there is no clear chronological or thematic order to keep readers oriented. The battles in the western theater are virtually ignored and many people, laws, and events are brought up with little or no introduction. The layout is distracting, with three-to-four photos or illustrations plus quotes or excerpts on each set of facing pages, thus breaking the narrative flow. The book may draw browsers, but it will be of little help to researchers or even to students expecting a good general history of the Civil War. William L. Katz's An Album of the Civil War (Watts, 1974; o.p.) is easier to follow, and many of the titles in "The History of the Civil War" series (Silver Burdett) offer more complete biographical and topical information about various aspects of the crisis.
Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[An] exciting series... Ms. Hakim braids multiple narratives together to bring alive material long dead to children's imaginations."--The New York Times Book Review

"Joy Hakim didn't rewrite history. But she did make it a whole lot more fun to read."--Education Week

"Readers young and old will find themselves amused, amazed, and engrossed by this searching, opinionated survey. In every sense a fresh look at our history." --Kirkus Reviews

"Merits every accolade, starting with the most personal: I couldn't put it down."--Washington Post Book World

"The liveliest, most realistic, most well-received American history series ever written for children."--Los Angeles Times

"A thorough and accurate narrative of our nation's history."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"I think this is the best American history written for young people that I have ever seen."--David Herbert Donald, Harvard University; Pulitzer prize-winning author of Lincoln

"When master storyteller Joy Hakim wields her pen, you're in for a breathtaking adventure."--Teaching K-8

"An attention to detail and drama alike make these recommended choices for not only readers ages 8-13 but for entire families."--Children's Bookwatch

"Absorbing, real and even fun to read."--Voice of Youth Advocates

"Books of real substance that speak directly to kids."--Jean Fritz, author of Shhh, We're Writing the Constitution

"One of the best nonfiction series of the decade. Impossible to put down."--School Library Journal

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 26, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195077563
• ISBN-13: 978-0195077568
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,997,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started my career as an author with a ten-volume U.S. history: A History of US, published by Oxford University Press in 1993, and now in a third updated printing. I had no idea the history would end up in ten books, or that it would be so much fun to write.
A History of US has been awarded a bunch of prizes. David McCullough commented, ". . .the idea that history might ever be thought of as a chore has clearly never crossed her mind." In testimony before the Senate Education Committee he called the series "superb." People Magazine described me as "the J.K. Rowling of the history world." (Umm, that would be nice. But the books have sold 5 million copies.)
Mine are narrative history books that attempt to set literary standards. I mean for them to be exciting to read. They're meant for young readers, and their teachers and parents, or for anyone without a deep background in U.S. history. These are books that can be found in bookstores, on Amazon, and in schools. Oxford and Hopkins have done teaching materials for those who want to use the books in academic study.
That series was followed by: Freedom: A History of US (published in 2003), the companion to a 16-part PBS series of the same name that was narrated by Katie Couric, with voices by a host of Hollywood figures, from Tom Hanks to Robin Williams. The videos are available to schools from PBS. And the book spawned a terrific website: (www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus).

I'm now writing The Story of Science. The first three books are jointly published by Smithsonian Books and the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association). They focus on the quest to understand the universe--from ancient Greece to today's expanding universe. The first volume is Aristotle Leads the Way; the second, Newton at the Center; the third book, Einstein Adds A New Dimension, attempts to explain quantum theory and relativity with black holes and space travel too. Writing in the New York Times, Natalie Angier called the books, "richly informative." Alan Alda raved. These books have won prizes too. Science writer Timothy Ferris said he wished he had them when he was a boy. Educators at Johns Hopkins and NSTA have developing coordinated teaching materials for classroom use (available from NSTA or Amazon).

I'm currently working on two books that put biology into a narrative framework.

Before I began writing books, I was an associate editor, editorial writer, and business writer for The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk's morning paper) and a general reporter and photographer on the staff of The Ledger-Star (Norfolk's afternoon paper. I did a whole lot of freelance writing while raising three kids. And I was an assistant editor of World News, a foreign news service at McGraw-Hill.

Writing and teaching seem to be two faces of the same need to explain things. Which may explain why I've had dual careers--as writer and teacher.

I've taught elementary school (Omaha, NE), high school English (Virginia Beach, VA), special education in a middle school (Syracuse, NY), and English composition and American literature at a community college (Virginia Beach). I initiated and taught a writing course for high school teachers of English through the University of Virginia.

I do a lot of speaking, especially to education groups. For three years I worked with a group of history teachers in Los Angeles under a TAH (Teaching American History) grant. I've spent some of my time in an inner-city school where most of the students speak Spanish at home and reading English doesn't come easily. I'll be speaking at Teachers College, Columbia in the fall of 2009 where reading guru, Lucy Calkins, has called my books the "gold standard" in the field.

As to my schooling: I earned a B.A. from Smith College after high school in Rutland, Vermont. Then I received a M.Ed. and an honorary doctorate from Goucher College. Smith gave me the Smith Medal (2000); the Matrix Foundation, the Edith Workman Award (2003); I've taken graduate courses in journalism and in geography at New York University, child psychology at Johns Hopkins, and courses in American history and science at Brown, Harvard, Cornell, and Cambridge University. My website is: joyhakim.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars War Terrible War, April 23, 2000

By 

Mark J. Krueger "Mark J Krueger" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of US: Book 6: War, Terrible War (1860-1865) (Paperback)

I have been teaching American History for the last five years. In my experience, I have found the History of US series by Joy Hakim, to be a great supplemental resource to educational textbooks and curriculum. In particular, I have found War Terrible War to be one of the finest books of the series. I highly recommend this book and series to students, parents, and people who enjoy history.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The History of US series gets the story of the Civil War, August 3, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A History of US: Book 6: War, Terrible War 1855-1865 (Paperback)

"War, Terrible War: 1855-1865," the sixth volume in Joy Hakim's A History of US series, tells the story of the Civil War, although the author points out that there was nothing civil about it. Instead, Hakim favors Lincoln's notion that the purpose of the war was to give the nation a "new birth of freedom." Within these pages young readers will learn about the bloody conflict, beginning with Fort Sumter and the battle of Manassas to Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House and the assassination of President Lincoln.

However, I have to admit I was a bit distracted because while I understood 1865 was the year the Civil War ended I was not sure what 1855 was supposed to signify as a starting point. The previous volume in the series, "Liberty for All?" set up the slavery issue and created some overlap in covering the years 1820-1860. But why the year 1855? The Compromise of 1850 was in 1850, Harriet Beecher Stowe published "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1852, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was in 1854, the Dred Scott decision in 1857, the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, and John Brown's attack on Harpers Ferry in 1859. Off the top of my head I would say that the Republican Party might have been founded in 1855, since they put up their first candidate in 1856, but that is not mentioned in this volume.

In fact, after a preface that sets the stage for the Civil War by recalling the infamous dinner in 1830 when President Andrew Jackson and his Vice President John C. Calhoun quarreled over the issue of Union, the first chapter of this book is devoted Southern states leaving the Union after Lincoln's election in 1860. The war begins in the second chapter with the Confederates firing on Fort Sumter and the battle of First Manassas (note Hakim lets the winning side name the battle). Then Hakim goes back in time to Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the story of Harriet Tubman, and the mythological political career of Abraham Lincoln. Chronology continues to become a secondary consideration as Hakim devotes a chapter to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, before looking at the slavery issue and the story of John Brown. Only after establishing Lincoln's problem in trying to hold the Union together does Hakim return to a chronological account of the major campaigns and battles. But never a mention of why 1855 is the starting point for the volume.

That is a minor concern, because I prefer a solid argumentative structure to mere chronology. Consequently "War, Terrible War" can be seen as having four distinct sections. The first (Chapters 1-2), establishes the spark that started the Civil War. The second (Chapters 3-10) goes back and provides key background elements that will help young readers to understand the issues and personalities that are played out in this particular drama. The third (Chapters 11-25) covers the Civil War through the Battle of Gettysburg and includes both the Emancipation Proclamation that made this a war to free the slaves and the Gettysburg Address that reestablished the idea that "all men are created equal" as the supreme American principle. The final unit (Chapters 26-31) covers the end of the war and the brutal irony of Lincoln's assassination once the threat to the Union was ended.

Throughout the book Hakim not only relates events, she captures the passion and commitment of abolitionists and slave owners through a series of profiles of politicians and soldiers on both sides, slave owners, abolitionists, average citizens, and others. These books are richly illustrated with historic photographs, etchings, political cartoons, maps, and the like. The margins are crammed with definitions and mini-biographies, as well as quotations from both historic figures and contemporary historians. As always, the major strength of this series is that Hakim keeps her young audience first and foremost in mind. Constantly asking her readers to think about these events from the perspective of the participants, she also does a marvelous job of anticipating questions from them as well. For example, if anyone has seen the Ken Burns documentary on "The Civil War" or the film "Gettysburg" and is wondering why Hakim does not talk about Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, there is a note in the margins to check out the book "The Killer Angels."

If there is a better juvenile American history series out there for young students who are being home schooled, then I have yet to see it. This is a superb series that does an admirable job of adapting a wealth of information and historical details to its audience. Hakim knows that her readers have grown up on computers and the Internet, but she does not sacrifice her subject matter on the altar of stylish presentation.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The History of US series gets the story of the Civil War, August 3, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A History of US: Book 6: War, Terrible War (1860-1865) (Paperback)

"War, Terrible War: 1855-1865," the sixth volume in Joy Hakim's A History of US series, tells the story of the Civil War, although the author points out that there was nothing civil about it. Instead, Hakim favors Lincoln's notion that the purpose of the war was to give the nation a "new birth of freedom." Within these pages young readers will learn about the bloody conflict, beginning with Fort Sumter and the battle of Manassas to Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House and the assassination of President Lincoln.

However, I have to admit I was a bit distracted because while I understood 1865 was the year the Civil War ended I was not sure what 1855 was supposed to signify as a starting point. The previous volume in the series, "Liberty for All?" set up the slavery issue and created some overlap in covering the years 1820-1860. But why the year 1855? The Compromise of 1850 was in 1850, Harriet Beecher Stowe published "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1852, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was in 1854, the Dred Scott decision in 1857, the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, and John Brown's attack on Harpers Ferry in 1859. Off the top of my head I would say that the Republican Party might have been founded in 1855, since they put up their first candidate in 1856, but that is not mentioned in this volume.

In fact, after a preface that sets the stage for the Civil War by recalling the infamous dinner in 1830 when President Andrew Jackson and his Vice President John C. Calhoun quarreled over the issue of Union, the first chapter of this book is devoted Southern states leaving the Union after Lincoln's election in 1860. The war begins in the second chapter with the Confederates firing on Fort Sumter and the battle of First Manassas (note Hakim lets the winning side name the battle). Then Hakim goes back in time to Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the story of Harriet Tubman, and the mythological political career of Abraham Lincoln. Chronology continues to become a secondary consideration as Hakim devotes a chapter to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, before looking at the slavery issue and the story of John Brown. Only after establishing Lincoln's problem in trying to hold the Union together does Hakim return to a chronological account of the major campaigns and battles. But never a mention of why 1855 is the starting point for the volume.

That is a minor concern, because I prefer a solid argumentative structure to mere chronology. Consequently "War, Terrible War" can be seen as having four distinct sections. The first (Chapters 1-2), establishes the spark that started the Civil War. The second (Chapters 3-10) goes back and provides key background elements that will help young readers to understand the issues and personalities that are played out in this particular drama. The third (Chapters 11-25) covers the Civil War through the Battle of Gettysburg and includes both the Emancipation Proclamation that made this a war to free the slaves and the Gettysburg Address that reestablished the idea that "all men are created equal" as the supreme American principle. The final unit (Chapters 26-31) covers the end of the war and the brutal irony of Lincoln's assassination once the threat to the Union was ended.

Throughout the book Hakim not only relates events, she captures the passion and commitment of abolitionists and slave owners through a series of profiles of politicians and soldiers on both sides, slave owners, abolitionists, average citizens, and others. These books are richly illustrated with historic photographs, etchings, political cartoons, maps, and the like. The margins are crammed with definitions and mini-biographies, as well as quotations from both historic figures and contemporary historians. As always, the major strength of this series is that Hakim keeps her young audience first and foremost in mind. Constantly asking her readers to think about these events from the perspective of the participants, she also does a marvelous job of anticipating questions from them as well. For example, if anyone has seen the Ken Burns documentary on "The Civil War" or the film "Gettysburg" and is wondering why Hakim does not talk about Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, there is a note in the margins to check out the book "The Killer Angels."

If there is a better juvenile American history series out there for young students who are being home schooled, then I have yet to see it. This is a superb series that does an admirable job of adapting a wealth of information and historical details to its audience. Hakim knows that her readers have grown up on computers and the Internet, but she does not sacrifice her subject matter on the altar of stylish presentation.