Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Clara would never forget the day the Civil War first touched her personally..." (more)
Key Phrases: farmhouse hospital, hospital transport service, state relief agency, Morris Island, New York, Hilton Head (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prolific biographer Oates ( Abraham Lincoln ) uses both primary and secondary sources in addressing the Civil War career of Clara Barton (1821-1912). He interprets her work as an act of self-discovery and part of a larger trend in which American women were finding a new sense of their collective worth. An "angel of the battlefield" who succored the wounded while under fire, Barton also raised funds and supplies through a network of women's support groups, while challenging the conventional belief that nursing was inappropriate for respectable women. Overcoming her initial inhibitions and demonstrating that women were more broadly capable than had been accepted, Barton, who founded the American Red Cross, opened the door for women in professions and politics during the second half of the 19th century. Oates here makes a useful contribution to women's history and Civil War studies.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Before her name became synonymous with the Red Cross, Barton organized drives at the outbreak of the Civil War for badly needed supplies for an army that had almost no idea of the carnage that lay ahead. At the urging of her father, she cast off her qualms about being the only "lady" near so many soldiers and worked on the battlefield to try and save literally fields full of wounded men. By the end of the war she was an honored and loved veteran and a feminist. Although this work brings to light Barton's affair with a married officer, it is not a salacious or even vaguely sensational biography. Like Oates's previous biographies of Lincoln ( Abraham Lincoln , LJ 3/15/84) and John Brown ( To Purge This Land with Blood , Univ. of Mass., 1984), this is a carefully written and researched work that brings to life both the Civil War and a period of Barton's life that was to affect her forever. Since this is the first biography to do so in any depth, it deserves consideration by most libraries.
- Katherine Gillen, Mesa P.L., Ariz.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 527 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028740122
• ISBN-13: 978-0028740126
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #602,695 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educational and Entertaining to read. A must have book!, April 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Woman of Valor (Hardcover)

Mr. Oates has done it again. You will know Clara Barton ambitions, downfalls, her emotions as well as her eager drive and personal duty to serve those who suffered so much during the Civil War years. The contents of this book will jump out at you and you'll feel that you're right next to the personalities involved. Oh, what women had to go through to pursue a dream or an ambition to contribute to society. Clara has a heart of gold as her patients in and off the field well knew, yet she was being torn apart on the inside by the constant fear that she wasn't doing enough for "her boys". Her personal life was put on the back shelf as she persued her one desire, to help those who were less fortunate. You'll follow Clara as she goes through the blood, sweat, tears, agony and the horrors of the war. This is a true story of a dark chapter in our american history when brother fought against brother literally. It is also of a dream turned into reality that Clara Barton followed with a sincere robust ambition to pursue the betterment of her fellow man. By caring for the soldiers on the battlefield, she proved to the Union Army that those suffering needed love, compassion and of course medical care where it was most needed - on the front lines of battle. This is a must read book for those interested in hero's, Civil War history or nursing history. Stephen B. Oates is the author of other fine books in history and ranks right up there with the big boys in the writings of history

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Protrait of a Real Woman, August 5, 2003

By A Customer

As a nurse I have heard and read about Clara Barton for years. This book finally reinvents the tired images - melodramatic icon of female self sacrifice and courage, angel on earth and of the battlefield - and offers the reader a compelling, warm and very real picture of the person and personality of this famous individual. We see all aspects of Clara's character and the impact of the many choices she makes. We even get to see a few of the skeletons in her closet. Without this book, I doubt we would know that there were any! The amount of detail - and it is considerable - is so beautifully woven into the historical narrative that the story, like the Civil War, sweeps the reader from one new experience to the next. Read this and you will feel the jolting of army wagons along rutted roads, struggle to rest as the canvas flaps of your tent crack and strain in storms, gallop with joyful abandon along the beaches at Hilton Head - and much more. I purchased my copy at Gettyburg and it is the best "souvenir" purchase I ever made. Bravo to Stephen Oates!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Woman Born in the Wrong Time, June 17, 2008

By	Randy Gibson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stephen Oates is an outstanding narrative historian and a first-rate biographer. In this volume, he explores the life of one of the most remarkable woman in American history. Clara Barton was absolutely unwilling to accept the limited, simplistic role 19th Century society designed for women. Well-educated and dedicated to public service to the detriment of any personal life, she accomplished more in a lifetime than most women would a century later when opportunities were much easier for them to find. One of the finer qualities of Oates' writing is a complete unwillingness to pass judgement. Viewed from the perspective of her time, Clara Barton was pushy, ambitious, and entirely too willing to do things that were inappropriate or "unfeminine" in the pursuit of her goals. Viewed from a more modern time, these qualities are less objectionable, but at times she still seems to be an overpowering force that many men today would find difficult to endure. Oates offers few if any opinions on Clara's personality but gives us a completely honest and utterly objective look at a woman who was absolutely unwilling to conform to society's expectations. One can only wonder to what heights of government service she would have aspired if she were born in the 20th century. I suspect from reading Oates' account of her personality and ingenuity that she would have won my vote.