James M. McPherson, "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)"
Winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for History
Filled with fresh interpretations and information, puncturing old myths and challenging new ones, Battle Cry of Freedom will unquestionably become the standard one-volume history of the Civil War.
James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War–the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry–and then moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself–the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson's new views on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory.
This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty.
Amazon.com Review
Published in 1988 to universal acclaim, this single-volume treatment of the Civil War quickly became recognized as the new standard in its field. James M. McPherson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, impressively combines a brisk writing style with an admirable thoroughness. He covers the military aspects of the war in all of the necessary detail, and also provides a helpful framework describing the complex economic, political, and social forces behind the conflict. Perhaps more than any other book, this one belongs on the bookshelf of every Civil War buff.
From Publishers Weekly
Likely to become the standard one-volume history of our Civil War, this vivifies, with palpable immediacy, scholarly acumen and interpretive skill, events foreshadowing the conflict, the war itself and its basic issue: slavery.
Contents
MapsTags: USHistory, CivilWar, TOHOTUS
Illustrations
Editor's Introduction
Prologue: From the Halls of Montezuma
1 The United States at Midcentury
2 Mexico Will Poison Us
3 An Empire for Slavery
4 Slavery, Rum, and Romanism
5 The Crime Against Kansas
6 Mudsills and Greasy Mechanics for A. Lincoln
7 The Revolution of 1860
8 The Counterrevolution of 1861
9 Facing Both Ways: The Upper South's Dilemma
10 Amateurs Go to War
11 Farewell to the Ninety Days' War
12 Blockade and Beachhead: The Salt-Water War, 1861–1862
13 The River War in 1862
14 The Sinews of War
15 Billy Yank's Chickahominy Blues
16 We Must Free the Slaves or Be Ourselves Subdued
17 Carry Me Back to Old Virginny
18 John Bull's Virginia Reel
19 Three Rivers in Winter, 1862–1863
20 Fire in the Rear
21 Long Remember: The Summer of '63
22 Johnny Reb's Chattanooga Blues
23 When This Cruel War Is Over
24 If It Takes All Summer
25 After Four Years of Failure
26 We Are Going To Be Wiped Off the Earth
27 South Carolina Must Be Destroyed
28 We Are All Americans
Epilogue: To the Shoals of Victory
Abbreviated Titles
Bibliographic Note
Index