To the Sea: A History and Tour Guide of Sherman's March [Paperback]

Jim Miles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

To The Sea: A History and Tour Guide of Sherman's March by Miles, Jim

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

William Tecumseh Sherman is still reviled as the most hated general of the Civil War, even though he specialized in destroying property rather than taking lives. This well-researched and highly anecdotal account will change few opinions, but it offers sympathetic understanding of all sides involved in the epic trek. Miles's narrative skills equal those of Bruce Catton or Shelby Foote. At the end of each section is a reliable road guide to Sherman's route and local historical attractions. This unusual text/guide is better organized and more appealing than Jay Luvaas and Harold Nelson's The U.S. Army War College Guide to the Battle of Gettysburg (Harper, 1986).
- Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 321 pages
• Publisher: Rutledge Hill Press (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558530479
• ISBN-13: 978-1558530478
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,053,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why read about history when you can see it?, September 27, 2002

By 

David Fields (Lincoln, Nebraska United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To the Sea: A History and Tour Guide of Sherman's March (Paperback)

Jim Miles, a wonderful author who can captivate you in his subjects, wrote this criminally out of print book in an attempt to have average readers, like myself, experience the drama of Sherman's march to the sea first hand.

Outside of his outstanding narrative are illustrations, both contemporary and modern that show the reader what to look for in a riding tour of Sherman's March to Sea.

The march itself was not just one straight line starting from the capture and (somewhat accidental) burning of most of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, to the capture and evacuation of Savannah and the destruction of what little of the Confederacy's fleet was in its port.

The two lines of march, the left wing and the right wing are both followed accurately and with great detail.

Worth getting, if you can find it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars comprehensive and enjoyable, October 29, 2005

By 

James W. Durney (Tampa Bay area) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: To the Sea: A History and Tour Guide of Sherman's March (Paperback)

If you enjoy reading about history and visiting the site this is an excellent book. The history and the tour guide are designed to provide an enjoyable and informative experience. Sherman's March is a subject fraught with controversy and still generates strong feelings over 140 years after the fact. Jim Miles faces this and provides a well balanced "warts n all" history of The March. He shows what was done well and what wasn't and the reasons that things happened that way. In doing this, the reader is given an excellent extended introduction to the subject.

This is a comprehensive and enjoyable book. It will work well for the serious student or someone who wants information but not be overwhelmed by it. The driving tour follows the route and provides you with current conditions and locations. Keep in mind that the "current conditions" were when the author was working on the book. The Atlanta Savannah area is growing. This book is part of the history of preservation and what we have lost.

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Account & Tour Guide of Sherman's March, November 7, 2005

By 

Brett R. Schulte "Civil War Buff" (Southwestern IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To the Sea: A History and Tour Guide of Sherman's March (Paperback)

In November, 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman and 60,000 of his finest veterans, divided among the Army of Georgia (XIV Corps and XX Corps) and the Army of the Tennessee, set off from Atlanta for Savannah, Georgia and the Atlantic Ocean. Over the course of the next six weeks, Sherman and his men foraged off of the land liberally, committing some atrocities along the way. Just how many atrocities these men committed and the gravity of the situation seems to fluctuate the farther north or south of the Mason-Dixon line you go, so I'll leave it at that. Savannah was captured in late December, and the next Spring Sherman marched north through the Carolinas. South Carolina was ravaged as Sherman's men wreaked havoc on the state they believed had caused the war. Columbia, South Carolina was almost wholly burned in an extremely controversial event. The book ends with a description of the battles in North Carolina, especially Bentonville, and Johnston's surrender to Sherman at Bennett Place in late April 1865. The books in Jim Miles' series are intended to provide a solid introduction to the information while also providing solid information for potential tours of these campaigns. Miles succeeds in this with To The Sea. As I mentioned above, Sherman's March is a very controversial topic, and Miles does a good job of providing the reader with a non-biased introduction. The reader may wish to pursue some of these controversies, especially the burning of Columbia, South Carolina, by referring to other more detailed studies. The maps of the campaign are sub-par, but I do not mind this too much because the book is not meant to be a detailed description of the entire March. There are no notes, which I'm never fond of. You have no way of finding out where Miles got his information and on what specifically he bases his conclusions. All in all, this is a decent book to get if you are new to these events. It provides the starting point for tours of these places, and should lead those interested into further study of the material.

192 pp., 31 maps