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This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War

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McPherson is a highly respected authority on the Civil War. This book seems to me almost his signature wrap up on his distinguished career. It is a book of wisdom, as opposed to just intelligence. Many of the essays are old and appeared in various periodicals. That doesn't lose any of his continuity and coheremce of presentation.

What I most like about the book is his generosity of spirit. He gets inside so many of his subjects, especially Grant and Sherman. He brings the War down from abstract policy to the dilemmas of action and everyday engangement. I don't think I learnt anything new but I got new slants on some many issues.

It's worth reading the book for just the one superb chapter about the Brahmins -- aristocrats from New England, the Harvard brigade and the other Northen elites, who not only served in the War but served magnificently and courageously because they were part of a spirit of noblesse oblige. Guts, honor, bravery....... No comment on the Dick Cheney draft deferments and Jim Webb's honor, but........

A fine book. Truly fine.

This slim volume of essays packs a real punch. Each is a small gem---well written, thoughtful and civil(even when debunking competing views), and honest(he looks back and revises some views based on recent scholarship). Some of the topics: Grant was great because he had "common sense" a la Harry Truman; the war for the South was about keeping slavery not the later, more palatable view of "we fought for states rights"; many men died, often in attacks that all knew would end in death because the notions of honor and duty were powerful and very real motivations. A welcome addition to an already impressive body of work.

Dr. McPherson is the best Civil War historian we have in America, and his latest book This Mighty Scourge only solidifies his place as the best. The book is a series of essays and reflections on the Civil War, focusing on things like the Lost Cause Myth to Newspapers during the Civil War. McPherson's strength is his ability to write in a very simple and clear way. Anyone who is interested in the Civil War Era should pick this book up. It is a quick read that will enlighten even the most serious student of American History.

I though this book was very well written and interesting.

Having been raised and educated in the South I found the group of essays titled "The lost Cause Revisted" to be very interesting and illuminating. All of the old Confederate explanations and excuses for the war are examined and pretty much exposed for what they are; dumb reasons for ever thinking they could win a war against the North and misguided judgement of world view of slavery.

A very good book. I recommend it.

The historian James McPherson is an accomplished author and a hard-eyed student of his subjects. This volume, containing a series of some works already previously published and some that had not yet appeared in print, leaves one asking for more. The issue? The "chapters" are quite brief, and the insights and wisdom of the author only cover so much territory. Chapters run to maybe 10-15 pages each, for the most part. And that can only give one a taste that leaves one desiring yet more.

At that, this is still an interesting volume. McPherson does not rant; he raises thoughtful points and encourages readers to think about the issues that he raises. Key questions that various segments of the book address (page ix): "Why did the war come? What were the war aims of each side? What strategies did they employ to achieve their aims? Did the war's outcome justify the immense sacrifice of life? What impact did the experience of war have on the people who lived through it? How did later generations remember and commemorate that experience?"

Let's consider a handful of the essays. Chapter 4: "Was the best defense a good offense?" explores the variety of views on the Confederacy's strategy. Should it be a defensive policy only, given the need for Union forces to occupy a vast territory? A Fabian strategy was advocated by some (such as Joe Johnston). Others, like Robert E. Lee, favored a more offensive strategy (perhaps best described, in terms of this chapter, as an "offensive defensive" strategy). This chapter examines the internal debate lucidly. Chapter 5 is intriguingly entitled "The Saratoga that Wasn't: The Impact of Antietam Abroad." The South wanted recognition by other countries, in order to receive active foreign support and nurture their revolution. They came tantalizingly close on a handful of occasions, as they scored impressive victories over Union forces. However, Antietam, which some had looked forward to as a potential Saratoga--when foreign governments began to proffer aid to the rebels in the Revolutionary War. But Lee's forces did not prevail and, with the promulgation of the Emancipation Proclamation, any real hope for European intervention on behalf of the South dissipated.

There is consideration elsewhere of "The Lost Cause" notion. McPherson handles this well. He also considers the relationship between Generals Grant and Sherman, the Vicksburg Campaign, and so on.

All in all, a most literate work, but one that leaves this reader a bit dissatisfied, wanting more than the format can provide. Nonetheless, an insightful volume.

I get lost in some history books but this was so well written and moved along so quickly that it was a total pleasure to read. I enjoyed his discussion of each controversy, and gained insight into this awful war.
I especially enjoyed the chapter on why the war was fought, and the chapter on the campaign by Sons of Confederate Veterans to re-write history. The Confederates fought bravely--no one can take that away from them--but isn't that enough to be honored forever? Why not accept "our cause was wrong, but we still have much to be proud of". That's how I think of my own beloved Confederate ancestors. True pride and honor can't be built on revisionist history. It's better if we realize our humaness and that every person and civilization is in error about something.
He takes on the glorification of Jesse James too...Excellent.

Professor McPherson is our best living historian of the Civil War period.
His informed insights, as presented in these varied and well-written essays, will be helpful to all but the firmly closed-minded.

Truth does win out. Lincoln was a wise politician and Grant a very good general. The South lost, and we are a better country for that signal fact.

"This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War" is a collection of footnoted essays by one of the foremost Civil War scholars. McPherson offers four themes in the book: The Lost Cause and legacy of the Confederacy, high-level military and national strategy, a survey of period sentiments, and several mini-bios that provide a relevant digression from the more scholarly content.

The first half of the book focuses on the Confederacy, and it is riddled with an indictment of the "Lost Cause" mythology. McPherson offers no doubt that the Civil War was about slavery and provides evidence of the South trying to obfuscate its original intentions from even as early as 1865. McPherson says the Lost Cause myth helped the South deal with its painful defeat, and surmises the North indirectly allowed it to propagate in the interest of reconciliation. He documents decades of attempts at revisionist history which span even into modern times. It is all a hard pill to swallow, but I do not necessarily disagree with him. Just as McPherson quotes Southern historian Charles Dew's painful realization upon review of the facts, it is indeed painful for anyone proud of their Southern heritage to digest.

The essays discussing Confederate political infighting, "big-man-me-ism" and divergent strategies are fascinating and provide a good summary of what I have read in many other recently published materials. While the treatment here is definitely one-sided with the focus on the South's foibles, McPherson freely acknowledges the Union faced similar tribulations. He admits that it is the "squeaky wheel that squeaks" and if we were to take all this negative press at face value, "we could scarcely understand how the Confederacy could last four weeks, let alone four years".

McPherson examines Confederate war strategy, particularly the offensive stance of the Army of Northern Virginia. He peers into at Lee's goals at Gettysburg and looks at (and defeats) the theory that it was a mere raid which was only characterized as a pivotal battle after the fact. He looks at Lee's relationship with Davis and postulates on whether Lee was too pre-occupied with the Virginia theatre of the war.

The mini-biographies include John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Jesse James and Lincoln. McPherson even offers some fresh material on the Lincoln mythology as he provides some interesting commentary on his biographers, including Lincoln's partner and friend Billy Herndon. He concludes with a look at Lincoln's use of Commander-in-Chief powers in order to execute the war and offers a solid response to recent books that claim Lincoln abused those powers.

I really liked that the essays contained inherent book reviews as McPherson cites and comments on the work of other authors even as he puts forth his own fresh insights. I have several new books to consume now as the result of reading Scourge. In summary, "This Might Scourge" is an outstanding and [mostly] balanced set of essays. Perspectives like those presented here could only be written by a learned someone who spent his career studying and writing about the Civil War in detail. I would wager McPherson could keep writing these essays forever ... and I would probably keep buying them.

Pulitzer Prize-wining historian and author James McPherson has compiled a wonderful collection of chapters on "This Mighty Scourge" - the American Civil War.

Most of these have been previously published elsewhere, but McPherson updates them to encompass the latest historiography on a war that killed some 620,000 Americans on both sides.

McPherson discusses the issue of slavery as one of the root causes of the war, authoritatively debunking post-war myths that the Confederates were not fighting to retain that hideous institution. He goes on to examine new works on why the Confederacy lost the war and then discusses Lincoln, Grant and Sherman as the architects of the long and hard-fought Union victory. Next he looks at the Home and Battle fronts, including the important role of the press in uplifting and undermining morale on both sides. Finally, he concludes with several chapters on Abraham Lincoln as President and Command and Chief.

This is not only good history, it is important history. McPherson shatters a multitude of myths that have arisen since the war, the most important of these being that the South did not fight the war for slavery's sake. The author shows conclusively, quoting the President and Vice President of the Confederacy early in the war, that slavery was indeed one of the root causes of the most destructive war in American history.

If you read one book on the American Civil War this year - read this one!

With 'This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War' James McPherson demonstrates once again why he is America's foremost Civil War historian. McPherson serves up sixteen essays for your delectation (most of which have been previously published elsewhere).

McPherson arranges his essays around several themes: What caused the war? What were the goals of each side? What strategies did the leaders pursue? And how is the war remembered?

McPherson's genius lies in his ability to synthesize perspectives of value to any reader, but especially the general reader with some knowledge of the war. Many of the essays analyze recent scholarship with McPherson's encyclopedic knowledge and understanding gained from years of study. This reader especially appreciates McPherson's even-handed dispassionate scholarship in a still field laced with emotional landmines despite the passage of nearly 150 years.

Despite all that has been written, McPherson remains remarkably able to bring fresh insight. One essay ('Long-Legged Yankee Lies: The Lost Cause Textbook Crusade') examines the extraordinary efforts by Confederate loyalists to distort the war's history and its teaching, especially in Southern schools. No doubt that gets the goat of the SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans) and the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy), but they don't like him anyway.

An earlier essay ('And the War Came') establishes beyond cavil that the institution of slavery and the interests behind it were the cause of the war. In other essays McPherson examines the relative merits of Grant, Lee, and Sherman and whether the South was foreordained to lose the war due to the imbalance of resources.

I am not a Civil War historian, but I can't imagine that even the most learned professor would not benefit from McPherson's wonderfully distilled insights. I've read a number of McPherson's other works and rank this book at the top. McPherson's sparkling prose and easy clarity made reading 'This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War' a rare pleasure.