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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
Ive always had an awareness of Catton as a significant Scholar of the Civil War-but this was a bit of a revelation. Very well written, very insightful, and extremely well argued and backed up. I especially added all the little side stores-men and women who made up that era but you otherwise would never hear of. Ill read more Catton after this.
Good history written by a master of language. Well worth the time to read; even if historiography has moved forward some, Catton chose episodes and details I'd not read about before. Read it and enjoy!
informative
slow-paced
Catton does an excellent job of creating uncertainty of a future which is our well-known past, and thereby creates a tension, a suspense, because we as readers do not know how this vehemence and vitriol will resolve itself. Like the actors of the time, we're made ignorant of the horrible consequences to come, but we can see the inevitability of violence, if not its intensity and vast encompassing malice.
This is a great introduction to the issues that led to secession in 1861. Bruce Catton starts with the Democratic Convention in 1860 in Charleston, SC and end the the First Battle of Bull Run. It is interesting to note that the division of the Democratic party occurred from the beginning of the campaign season. The Republicans had not convened and the Democrats were not able to come to a consensus about who their own presidential nominee would be. The Southerners held their own convention and nominated Breckinridge and the rest of the party met later in Baltimore and chose Stephen Douglas. As a result of this split Abraham Lincoln, the first republican president became the leader of a very divided country. South Carolina left the union first and then the rest of the cotton states followed. These states did leave the union over slavery. So anyone who tries to say that the Civil War was over States Rights is wrong. The States Rights issue comes in a few months later when the border states start choosing sides. It is interesting that the issue that the border states took up was the call to arms of troops. Drafting men into the army has been a controversial issue in American Politics for a very long time. The governors of the border states did not like being given a quota of men to turn over to the federal regulars. As so many army officers left the service to fight for rebellious states their was a need for fresh recruits.
Catton is very fair to Lincoln and Seward in this book. Lincoln had filled his cabinet with political rivals and many people did not understand why he did that. Maybe he recognized the needs of the United States during a time of great conflict and turmoil. I enjoyed this book.
Catton is very fair to Lincoln and Seward in this book. Lincoln had filled his cabinet with political rivals and many people did not understand why he did that. Maybe he recognized the needs of the United States during a time of great conflict and turmoil. I enjoyed this book.
This is a book that has been on my family's bookshelf for as long as I can recall. Since I've committed to reading more nonfiction, I decided to check this one out. I knew it would be a daunting task. It's nonfiction, and it is not small. (Come to find out, it's also 1 of 3 books!) That being said, I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it.
I read it for about 15-30 minutes at a time. It would take me a little while to get into it each time I sat down to read it, but once I did, I found I didn't want to stop.
For a nonfiction book, it is a flowery read. By that I mean, there is a LOT of useless information added in. I can appreciate that the author was trying to paint a picture; however, there are details missing that could have added more to the visual and depth of the narrative. It is a book about the Civil War and the events and catalysts that lead to it. But, for the main catalyst being the topic of slavery, there is very little from the viewpoint of the slave or the black soldier. Instead, we are spoon-fed the point of view of politicians that had their hands in the situation, the press that helped fuel the fires, and the bumbling of Lincoln's beginnings in the White House. I am not saying that this isn't unimportant to the events that spurred the Civil War but, there was more. So much more.
That being said, it was still an interesting read. What we are taught in school in our youth barely scratches the surface. We are taught that Lincoln was a champion of the slave. Yeah well, it wasn't entirely slavery he was against, at least not in the beginning. We are taught that there were two sides to the situation when in reality, there were many sides and a whole lot of people caught in the middle that were forced to choose a side.
There were a lot of useless casualties. And a lot of misinformation, miseducation, misogyny, and misguided fools. But then again, isn't that the same for anything where politicians are involved?
In all, there was a lot to take in during the course of reading this book. To fully comprehend and understand the situation that is presented via this books telling of the story, it would take multiple reads or heavy studying of the book and events and people it represents. I will seek out the next two books to read. Just, not right away.
I read it for about 15-30 minutes at a time. It would take me a little while to get into it each time I sat down to read it, but once I did, I found I didn't want to stop.
For a nonfiction book, it is a flowery read. By that I mean, there is a LOT of useless information added in. I can appreciate that the author was trying to paint a picture; however, there are details missing that could have added more to the visual and depth of the narrative. It is a book about the Civil War and the events and catalysts that lead to it. But, for the main catalyst being the topic of slavery, there is very little from the viewpoint of the slave or the black soldier. Instead, we are spoon-fed the point of view of politicians that had their hands in the situation, the press that helped fuel the fires, and the bumbling of Lincoln's beginnings in the White House. I am not saying that this isn't unimportant to the events that spurred the Civil War but, there was more. So much more.
That being said, it was still an interesting read. What we are taught in school in our youth barely scratches the surface. We are taught that Lincoln was a champion of the slave. Yeah well, it wasn't entirely slavery he was against, at least not in the beginning. We are taught that there were two sides to the situation when in reality, there were many sides and a whole lot of people caught in the middle that were forced to choose a side.
There were a lot of useless casualties. And a lot of misinformation, miseducation, misogyny, and misguided fools. But then again, isn't that the same for anything where politicians are involved?
In all, there was a lot to take in during the course of reading this book. To fully comprehend and understand the situation that is presented via this books telling of the story, it would take multiple reads or heavy studying of the book and events and people it represents. I will seek out the next two books to read. Just, not right away.
This book is incredibly detailed, It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of this book, but once I got the flow down it moved quickly. I liked how it was a broad but specific enough in the beginning of the Civil War. I like how it started off with James Buchanan's administration, I know truly nothing of his years in office or his stance on the beginning of the unrest and the book was a good beginners knowledge of Buchanan. I also enjoyed the election part of the book,fun fact Lincoln won the election but did not win the his home county. I have read briefly of the Blair family before and this book has peaked my interest in that strong political family of that time.
In my opinion the history of Kentucky during the before and during the Civil War is most interesting out of the state. Senator Crittenden tried so earnestly to avert a Civil War, mainly on his behalf I feel is why Kentucky did not secede, this old senator from Kentucky fought so hard for what he believed in, stay with the Union. A little sadden that the book never mentioned that his son fought for the Confederacy. Kentucky was woe unlike any other state, Missouri and Baltimore were pounded on. The western section of Virginia showed that they would not seceeded with the New Southern Confederacy and in turned fought for the Union becoming West Virgina.
I enjoyed the background of the City Houston of Texas. Governor San Houston was against secession in Texas so much in fact "You may, after the sacrifice of countless thousands of treasures and hundreds of thousands of precious lives, as a bare possibility, win Southern Independence, if God by not against you; but I doubt it." Unfortunately for Houston, Texas was stupid and left the Union.
Catton's finer points of the book for me was that the Southern people made the error of leaving Washington. Leaving Washington basically was the kiss of death, because the Civil War was legit in Washington's hand. The South did not have the resources that the North had, such as the railroads and the industry. The South also had the strong belief that the government that was best, was the one who governed less and luckily for the South the had the less to govern. The South was wealthy in two thing, Land and Slaves, two things that do not fight an Army. The South did have Men of honor but, they may not have used those men to the best of their ability. Lincoln's greatest strength was surrounding himself with his opponents - many different view points, many issues to brood over.
This book has kick started my civil war fever once again....
In my opinion the history of Kentucky during the before and during the Civil War is most interesting out of the state. Senator Crittenden tried so earnestly to avert a Civil War, mainly on his behalf I feel is why Kentucky did not secede, this old senator from Kentucky fought so hard for what he believed in, stay with the Union. A little sadden that the book never mentioned that his son fought for the Confederacy. Kentucky was woe unlike any other state, Missouri and Baltimore were pounded on. The western section of Virginia showed that they would not seceeded with the New Southern Confederacy and in turned fought for the Union becoming West Virgina.
I enjoyed the background of the City Houston of Texas. Governor San Houston was against secession in Texas so much in fact "You may, after the sacrifice of countless thousands of treasures and hundreds of thousands of precious lives, as a bare possibility, win Southern Independence, if God by not against you; but I doubt it." Unfortunately for Houston, Texas was stupid and left the Union.
Catton's finer points of the book for me was that the Southern people made the error of leaving Washington. Leaving Washington basically was the kiss of death, because the Civil War was legit in Washington's hand. The South did not have the resources that the North had, such as the railroads and the industry. The South also had the strong belief that the government that was best, was the one who governed less and luckily for the South the had the less to govern. The South was wealthy in two thing, Land and Slaves, two things that do not fight an Army. The South did have Men of honor but, they may not have used those men to the best of their ability. Lincoln's greatest strength was surrounding himself with his opponents - many different view points, many issues to brood over.
This book has kick started my civil war fever once again....