Customer Reviews

The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It's been fifteen years since "Battle Cry" first appeared -- and time has only enhanced its standing. The book is still the place to start for anyone seeking to understand the war era or, for that matter, anyone seeking to understand the sinews of American national identity. Some readers have taken issue with "Battle Cry"'s triumphant tone; recent books have tended to stress cynicism over affirmation. Still, McPherson's achievements here are legion. This new edition contains hundreds of impressive photographs -- most readers will delight in these, even if McPherson's original footnotes had to be cut in order to make room.

Professor James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" initially appeared in 1988 and received the Pulitzer Prize, together with great popular and critical acclaim, for its detailed single-volume study of the Civil War. Recently, in "The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom" (2003), Professor McPherson has reformatted and edited his outstanding 1988 study. The major change to the book is the addition of many illustrations, which include photographs, portraits, paintings, cartoons, drawings, and maps from the Civil War era. To make room for the illustrations, about 20 percent of the original text has been cut, and there are no footnotes and bibliography.

This illustrated version is, probably, the best single-volume introduction to the Civil War. (Some of the works by
Bruce Catton come close.) The illustrations add an irreplaceable element to the story and enable the reader to see and to get the feel of the Civil War, its era, and its major protagonists in a way the printed word cannot capture. The photographs and the contemporary artwork, including drawings and paintings by the soldiers, are difficult to find in one place. I found they added a great deal to my understanding.

Apart from the illustrations, this book remains a magisterial overview of the Civil War. The book weaves together descriptions of the military campaigns of the War with discussions of the sources of the conflict. It discusses in depth the differences between the North and the South in their conceptions of freedom and in their understanding of our country. McPherson covers the domestic fronts of the War, including both economic and social issues, in both North and South and also explains the efforts of both sides in the sphere of international relations. The book focuses on the change of the Civil War from a conflict to restore the Union to a total war to create a unified Nation. The climactic point of the story is President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation which made the abolitition of slavery an irreducible element of the Union war effort.

McPherson describes eloquently how the Civil War effected a radical change in our country from a loose union of states to a united Nation. He discusses the changing concept of human freedom and liberty which emerged from the War and which remains evolving in our country to this day. The valor of the soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict is presented from the inside and with respect and reverence. McPherson shows the reader how and why the Civil War was the turning point in our Nation's history and encourages the reader to reflect and to explore further.

This book is large,heavy and bulky, making it unsuitable to carry around for reading on the bus, train, or in the park. The loss of portions of the text is a pity, but it is more than compensated by the illustrations. Readers who wish to track down sources or explore further will need to consult the original edition for references. With these caveats, this book is still the best source to introduce the reader to the facts and significance of the American Civil War.

This is an excellent single volume history of the American Civil War. Originally published in 1988, this updated version of the Pulitzer Prize winning history now includes haunting photographs, maps, paintings, and newspaper cartoons. This is much more than a history of the war. It covers the people, economics, political atmosphere, and events that led America into disaster. All of the major land battles and campaigns are covered as well as naval action at sea and on America's rivers. Reading this book gives one a taste of the anger, hate, frustration, and political intensity of the time. Both Northern and Southern armies suffered horrific casualties from the battles, disease, and the crude medical technology available, making the Civil War the bloodiest war in American history. If you are going to read a single volume history of the Civil War, this is the best one in my opinion written to date. It should be required reading for students of American History.

While searching for a book that would give me in-depth information about the Civil War, I came across The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom. This book not only gave me an understanding of the war, but also insight into American life during this period of time. The illustrations helped me to retain the facts I learned, and were a great asset when I was teaching my 9 year old son about the Civil War. Even if you don't have the time to get through this hefty book, leafing through to look at the wonderful pictures/maps and reading excerpts is still enjoyable.

McPherson's BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM has long established itself as arguably the finest single-volume history of the Civil War. This new illustrated edition manages to establish itself as one of the most attractive. It contains the entire text of the original work, and has added hundreds of beautiful illustrations, maps, and photographs. It looks great!

If I have a complaint, it is that the book is now too large and heavy to read except sitting at home. It is hard to carry such a large book with you on a hike or to work to read at lunch. He just weighs too much. But if one doesn't mind having a book that one can only read at home, I heartily recommend the book.

I've spent the last five hours reading big chunks of McPherson's book. It is full of scholarly political insights, and best of all, full of wonderful photos and paintings from the Civil War Era. Interstingly: the author's sense of the era is greatly extended in the beginning. His first 184 pages (of 760 total) discuss the Louisiana Purchase, the Mormon trek to Utah, the War with Mexico, etc. Finally on page 185 the southern sessession begins and the presidential election results of 1860 are shown. Even more interesting: the book abruptly ends before the war did. In the final chapter, in which Lee meets Grant at Appomattox, the closing sentence is a quote from John Wilkes Booth vowing, "Now by God I'll put him through..." That's the end. Then in the Epilogue, the first sentence is: "The weeks after Booth fulfilled his vow..." and continues with a one-paragraph kaliedescope of various events. Strangely nothing is said about the assassination of Pres. Abraham Lincoln that put such an emotional exclamation point on the end of the war. I also checked, and Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address is not included either. So give it four stars for good writing (although not the equal of a Will Durant) and some excellent insights, but what about Lincoln? Go figure.

I got this as my old copy was lost, and it was a great disappointment: about 25% of the text was abridged away, stripping a lot of nuance and story from it while adding many many more images. Thus, it is a kind of dumbed down version of the original, which was hands down the best one-volume account that I know of.

You can still get a lot out of this book, of course, but it simply isn't the same kind of reading experience that the original, far more dense version was. Indeed, the original was such a masterpiece that I did not think a word of it could be changed without diminishment. Well, here is diminishment.

Widely praised as the best single volume history of the American Civil War, James McPherson's `Battle Cry of Freedom' comes close, but does not quite live up to that high praise. It has many virtues to recommend it, yet it contains flaws that are closely related to its virtues which, to my mind, make it fall short of the admittedly arbitrary "best" status.
The book's strength is in its inclusiveness. Sub titled `The Civil War Era'; it truly lives up to its billing. It begins not with the opening of the Civil War, but with the Mexican War and the developing sectional crisis which that war helped to escalate. The first seven chapters of the book chronicle the many related social and political crises which continued to rive the country into two separate and hostile camps, making war all but inevitable. Even after McPherson launches into the story of the war proper, his book is much more that a simple tale of battles and generals. He devotes whole chapters to related subjects such as manufacturing capabilities North and South, the medical situation, the financing of the war, political crises which affect the war effort, foreign diplomacy, and the developing importance of the issue of slavery as an overwhelming factor in the war. He successfully gives the big picture of the overall social and political environment which is absolutely necessary to put the war into context and truly understand it.
The greatest virtue of this volume, however, is its continued insistence on emphasizing the importance of the issue of slavery. McPherson repeatedly points out that while the war was fought for Union, its primary and overriding cause was the slavery issue. Many historians downplay or avoid this issue as much as possible, as it causes controversy and resentment among a large subset of Civil War students who are committed to the myth that slavery was a wholly peripheral issue that had little or nothing to do with the war. Though many of these people may be well meaning and sincere, I believe this myth to be as historically odious and dangerous as the idea of Holocaust denial, and it is much more pervasive and widely believed than that latter myth. McPherson tackles this myth head on, and from beginning to end drills in the importance of slavery as the primary cause of division in the country, the catalyst for secession and war, and one of the primary stumbling blocks to a peaceful settlement of the hostilities. He also clearly shows that while the North primarily fought the war for the cause of Union, that as the war progressed, the issue of freedom and emancipation took on greater and greater importance, until by war's end, many in the North saw the two as intertwined and of equal importance.
`Battle Cry of Freedom' is not, however, without flaw. McPherson writes well enough to make this longish and comprehensive history flow along nicely without bogging down and boring the reader, but his prose lacks the charm that could make the events he writes of come passionately to life. This is compounded by the fact that his comprehensive take on the entire era limits the detail that he can devote to any single battle or personality of the war. All of the important events and people are here, but they are mere utilitarian sketches that mostly lack depth, color, and insight. This is a book to read for an overview, but the reader must go elsewhere for a deeper understanding of any single event or personality of the times.
This Illustrated Edition is a heavy, oversized volume filled with many excellent maps, photographs, illustrations, and period cartoons on every page that nicely complements the text. Its bulk makes it unwieldy to carry about and read. Also, the illustrations have replaced the book's footnotes, so it is not the edition to have for anyone who needs to reference it for scholarly reasons. It would be most useful to those who do not already have large volumes of Civil War photographs and illustrations in their collections.

`Battle Cry of Freedom' is an outstanding, important history of the American Civil War. Though it falls just short of its billing as the best single volume history of the war (Fletcher Pratt's `A Short History of the Civil War: Ordeal By Fire' still holds that distinction), it should be considered absolutely essential reading for any Civil War scholar or anyone wishing to gain a full knowledge of this great American conflict. It has my recommendation.

Theo Logos

I read 'Battle Cry of Freedom' some time back and decided then that it was the best one volumn authority on the Civil War ever written. My paperback copy is extremely worn and has underlines, my comments, etc. throughout. A good friend bought 'The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom' for me and I have just been elated with it. It is one of the most treasured books in my extensive war collection. The illustrations etc. are just a wonderful addition to a wonderful book.

McPherson's framework and focus make this the gold standard for single-volume histories of The Civil War. He regards the war as a political one that addresses the slavery issue that was left undecided at the nation's founding and became increasingly problematic leading up to the secession of the southern states and outbreak of armed conflict.

McPherson carefully examines the politics of the 20 years preceding the onset of hostilities. He spends about 200 pages of the 560 detailing attempts to settle the slavery question. For instance he delves into the definition of political parties by geography, north vs south, as opposed to political ideology; and follows the political ramifications of the war, including Lincoln's near concession of the 1864 presidential campaign that turned on Atlanta's fall while the Democratic convention was in session in Chicago.

The illustrated edition's size makes it the anti-ebook. The illustrations and wonderful maps (I live in Virginia and my children and I have regularly traveled through battle grounds and passes used in the Shenandoah campaigns) added greatly to my own reading experience.