Customer Reviews

Justice in Blue and Gray: A Legal History of the Civil War

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

 

 

I was surprised that no one else had made a comment before to this work and somehow worried I could not understand it. Far from that, it is easy to follow and in order to savour it one only needs to be a curious layperson. However, although the subject is very interesting, because of the author's style, the book, without being dry, is not engaging: certainly it will not become a best-seller. So my rate is between 5 (content) and 3 (pleasure).

I will also suggest reading the following books on Lincoln and/or the Civil War in addition to this work: 1) "Lincoln: a biography" by Benjamin P. Thomas (a classical biography, written more than half a century ago which has passed the test of time with brilliant qualifications); 2) "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era" by James M. McPherson (nowadays the standard, very readable, one-volume history of US Civil War); 3) "What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War" by Chandra Manning (slavery as the prime cause of the Civil War); 4) "Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime: From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism" by Geoffrey R. Stone, specially chapter II "The Civil War: Mr. Lincoln's First Amendment" (in fact, all the book is worth-reading); and 5) "Lincoln's Constitution" by Daniel Farber (how Abraham Lincoln faced the constitutional issues brought on by the US Civil War).

Never have I enjoyed a "serious read" so much. I read it first speedily, as one might a whodunnit to know what happens next. I then read it again, to savour each intriguing detail, and to enjoy the full flavour of Neff's consummate style, of which I know no equal. He takes the reader on an exciting voyage of discovery, with due warning whenever rough seas are approaching, so that you face them confident of sailing safely into the next harbour. I started off with shamefully little knowledge of the American Civil War. And, though I am a lawyer, my generation did not have the law of war as part of our international law syllabus, it being - with an optimism that now seems incredible - assumed no longer relevant to post World War Two. So everything was new, and fascinating. An added bonus is the book's extraordinary relevance to the present day.

One certainly does not need a legal background to enjoy this book. But I would recommend it to the cognoscenti too (for which read also smarty-pants know-alls) for its value as an example of a true erudition which is unassuming, unpretentious, and gently witty. I only wish there were a paperback edition so that I could buy lots of copies for friends. As it is, I have been badgering pals all over the world to buy their own. Repeated checks on Amazon, alas, show that second hand copies of Neff's books, if available at all, are generally as or more expensive than new.

Suriya Wickremasinghe (Sri Lanka)