Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States) | James M. McPherson | Shoot boy, shoot.

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Battle Cry of Free...

	Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States) James M. McPherson Oxford University Press, USA, 2003 - 952 pages average customer review:based on 180 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A complete picture

Wow. I will only read books of this size if I am forced to. Especially, in this video-driven world I've grown up in. I was forced to read this for a college course on the Civil War, and I must tell you, it was absolutely enthralling. I can see why McPherson won the Pulitzer for this book.

The book paints a complete picture of policy, politics, and FACTS of the Civil War. McPherson treats the firing on Ft. Sumter as what it truly was, the beginning of the bloodiest war in US History. If you want to learn about the communication troubles, supply problems, tactical strategies and leadership traits from the Civil War, this book is the best you can buy. James McPherson paints a complete picture in this weighty book. The amout of knowledge you take away seems like it would come from 3 books at over 800 pages each!

Whether you're already a buff of the Civil War, or someone who wants to know more than just the basics, this book is perfect.

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Shoot boy, shoot.

Excellent book, very detailed and tells me about history that I was not taught in school. I like the book and its contents such that I cannot put it down and will have it read within several days.

The best one-volume civil war history?

That's what many say and it is hard to argue. From a lengthy survey of the pre-war forces that led the country to fracture through all the battles to the war's aftermath and legacy it is all here. Not just a textbook data-dump, it is written engagingly and does not bore. Personally, I much prefer McPherson's opinion that the war left us with an activist federal government to some of the daffy views expressed at the end of Ken Burns' war documentary (although the rest was excellent) that modern day homelessness is really the civil war still being fought. Beware- this book can turn a simply-curious-about-the-war reader into a Civil War history buff!!

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The Civil War - Causes and Exposition

Unlike many other treatments of the Civil War, Battle Cry of Freedom gives a detailed explanation of life in America in the 1850s and shows how and why the differences over slavery cannot be resolved peacefully. These 250 pages of background history give detail and insight into the decisions made by Lincoln, Davis and others that is lacking from other treatments (say Ken Burns excellent documentary, The Civil War).

McPherson writes in a fluid, compelling style that makes this book hard to put down. Although the treatments of battles are brief, the narrative focuses on how these individual events changed the big picture. If you want to delve into details about the 2nd day at Shiloh or how Lee's cigars wrapped in war plans impacted Antietam, you can find that elsewhere. If you want a readable introduction to and synthesis of one of the most dramatic periods of American history, you must start with this book.

If you enjoyed this, you should check out some of the other titles in the Oxford History of the United States series. Too bad the volume on the reconstruction era has yet to be written.

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Great Civil War Book

If your a Civil War Buff this is one of those books you cannot put down. It covers more of the the political aspect and skimps on the battles. This book put me in the frame of mind of how I would feel living in the 1860's reading the Daily news about how the war was progressing. Instead of cursing Bush I would be cursing Lincoln.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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