I took a chance on this book and now that I have finished it I have to say that it is all that I could have hoped for. To the contrary, the battles remain central and are accompanied by helpful maps. And this book did not give short shrift to the battles. Then I found this book: a single volume that encompasses the entire conflict from its military and political antecedents to the economic and sociological ingredients that forced the Union to enter into a war that would change forever the face of democracy. Plus I had to admit that it was the battles that interested me the most, and I despaired of having to read a separate book or two on each of the dozens of battles that are considered "major" during those four years. I had no desire to immerse myself in some three or four volume 2000-page work because, aside from believing myself unable to keep everything in perspective and not to get bogged down in minutiae, I reasoned that plain laziness and attention span problems would keep me from ever finishing anything like that. But I was daunted by the plethora of information on the American Civil War. I found that I wanted to know more about the circumstances surrounding that battle, the situation of the two armies, the generals, the politicians, and the state of the economies of the two sides engaged. I read this book after having read two other books on the Battle of Gettysburg. As such, it is vital reaading for anyone interested in the War and its effect on American History. What McPherson has done is place the great painting of the war in a proper frame to give one the whole picture. This fact often gets lost in the tales of epic battles, almost mythical generals and incredible sacrifice. McPherson would rather focus on why the North ans South decided to fight it out and once they did, how the war evolved slowly from an attempt to put down an insurrection to a holy quest to end slavery.No other period in American History has seen as many political changes of earthquake proportions as The Civil War. But there are countless other volumes by other authors available for those whose interest primarily lies with the shooting war itself. His descriptions of the battles themselves tend to be brief overviews rather than extensive studies. As a result, his book gives the war a proper context that is lacking in many other works. For example, McPherson spends nearly the first three hundred pages of the book on the events, political and otherwise, leading up to the firing on Fort Sumter. Both sides believed in democracy and freedom, but they had different opinions about slavery.James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" is the best work on the politics of The Civil War available. The Battle Cry of Freedom is a great book that tells the story of how divided Americans were in the decades leading up to the Civil War. On the other hand, most Northerners supported a democratic system with free elections rather than one ruled by aristocrats or tyrants In addition, many Southerners felt like their liberties were being threatened by Northern leaders who didn’t care much about their rights and freedoms as long as slavery continued to exist. Since America was a democracy, people could vote to have whatever type of government they wanted however, the South believed in a republican form of government while most Northerners favored democracy. He argues that both North and South wanted freedom, but they had different interpretations of it. The author provides an analysis of America’s history leading up to the war and what Americans thought about freedom at that time. He argues that although many people believed that there would never be civil war, they were wrong because things gradually got worse over time until the conflict was inevitable.īattle Cry for Freedom is about the Civil War. The author of this book aims to cover two decades of American history in order to give readers a broader perspective on what led up to the war and why it happened when it did. The Civil War lasted for only a few years, but the reasons behind it can be traced back to decades before. It earned a Pulitzer Prize for its insight into the social, intellectual, and economic factors that catalyzed this violent national schism between the North and South. 1-Page Summary of Battle Cry of Freedom Overall Summaryīattle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era is an analysis of the factors that led to the American Civil War, which occurred between 18.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |