Terrible Swift Sword Volume 2 (American Civil War Trilogy) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Bruce Catton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 559 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Press (1988)
• ISBN-10: 1898800243
• ISBN-13: 978-1898800248
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,488,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Decision for Hard War..., November 21, 2011

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Terrible Swift Sword Volume Two (Paperback)

"Terrible Swift Sword" is the second volume of famed historian Bruce Catton's excellent Centennial History of the Civil War, still a superb reading experience at the sequiscentennial of that conflict. Catton was a journalist by trade, who grew up around Civil War veterans and who brought a highly readable narrative style to this seminal history of the Civil War.

"Terrible Swift Sword" picks up the story following the First Battle of Bull Run, as hope fades for a early end to the war. Washington and Richmond will prepare for a long conflict, raising additional armies to replace the enormous casualties of Shiloh and the Seven Days. General Robert E. Lee will solidify his status as the leading Confederate General, while the North will struggle to find adequate leaders. General McClellan, fired after the failure of the Peninsula campaign, will return to lead Union forces at the fateful Battle of Antietam.

Catton does a superb job chronicling the interaction of political and military events, and the hardening of attitudes North and South toward the war. He succeeds in capturing the leading personalities in a series of vivid vignettes, wrestling with the forces of history and in particular the irreducible issue of slavery. "Terrible Swift Sword" is very highly recommended to fans of the Civil War. This reprint is a little expensive; readers may be able to find cheaper copies of Catton's Centennial History of the Civil War in used condition.