Customer Reviews

Stonewall Jackson And The American Civil War (Da Capo Paperback)

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

 

 

I have been a fan of the American Civil War for over five years, and I have read many books on the subject and especially on Stonewall Jackson. I have never found a book more thorough about both subjects in my life. The author dives into several contravercies like: Why did the Civil War started, Did Stonewall fall asleep at the Seven day Battle? He also doesn't just stick to Stonewall, he also talks about other important figures in the Civil War. So if you are interested, kinda like, or a fanatic about Civil War and Stonewall Jackson like I am, I would recammend this book to every one!

One can effectively argue that one cannot have an inimate understanding of a general to write his biography without being a military man first. After one reads this book, one comes away with a vision of how Jackson lived, prayed, and led, with all military terminology academically broken down for the layman. I recomend both this book as well as Robertson's account for in-depth reading and research.

This book covers a lot of ground, it's well written and is never dull. Colonel Henderson knew his subject very well.

I purchased this book with a bit of apprehension due to the fact that it was published at the turn of the 19th century. The author did a marvelous job in conveying the story of Stonewall Jackson. At the end of the book the reader will have an excellent understanding of not only Jackson but also the campaigns in which Jackson fought.

The book also gives the reader an oblique insight of the British military's mindset at the time of publishing. For example, civilian leaders should merely appoint a great captain and then let him do as he pleases in the conduct of a nation's wars. Also, some modern readers may find the author's analysis of slavery.

My downloaded version did not have any maps or illustrations. I downloaded a Gutenberg press copy with the maps but these too were not very helpful in Kindle format. I hate to say it but Wikipedia has excellent maps that cover the campaigns. I printed these out for reference while reading. The summary at the end of the book was a bit tedious to plow through after the death of Jackson.

Quite simply, this is one of the greatest biographies ever written. The subject, the era / events and the writer are an extraordinary combination. The quality of the research is breathtaking. Jackson and Henderson, clearly, were giants of their time. Wonderful to see the book in re-print over 100 years since first published. Fresh as the day it was written.

While I was greatly looking forward to receiving my copy of this book as I had enjoyed it years ago as a graduate student (borrowed at the time) I was greatly disappointed with the materials. While the book the represent is there, it is clearly a poorly done reprint. Pages do not line up within the text as the format is larger than the original text. There is no table of contents and in most cases when there is a list, I am left with the impression that the person working with the material has no clue how to use a word processor. It is certainly not the book they show when you look at the "view inside" option. The DeCapo introduction is not there. I have never had to return a book to Amazon before, however in this case I think I am making an exception as this is a terrible version of one of the great examples of bibliographical history. It is clearly not an edition I would recommend to anyone.

If you want to read about Jackson don'twast your time with this book. You can read 10 pages and there might be a half of a page about jackson. Its about everything but and a lot about nothing. Its poorly written it stinks!!!