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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 11, 2007 22:09:32 GMT -5
Okay, it's not like I don't already have a huge stack of books in my "to read" pile, but here's another question for you ACW buffs. What do you think is the best single volume history of the ACW? Which gives the best, most balanced overview, contains the most up-to-date research? Which is the best narrative history? If I could only buy a couple, which would cover the bases? I have an interest in the ACW, and have read some, but the sheer number of titles on that subject in any given bookstore is staggering. Jim
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Post by Herb on Jun 11, 2007 22:30:20 GMT -5
There is no best single volume! The best narrative history is Shelby Foote's three volume "The Civil War A Narrative". Quite frankly nothing else comes near it. This is what narrative history is supposed to be. There is a single volume condensed version and a modern reprint that is in even more mutiple volumes. IMHO, this is the best history book(s) I own.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 11, 2007 22:43:34 GMT -5
Is Foote's style more character driven or event driven? Obviously, I know him from the Ken Burns series, but I've never read him. Jim
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Post by Herb on Jun 11, 2007 23:05:30 GMT -5
Character driven. He makes some men really come alive. Jefferson Davis comes to mind; it's comparativily easy to make Lincoln or Lee come to life, but Davis! It really is a rich study.
Foote said, I'm not sure if it is in the books or Burns, that the ACW produced two real life geniuses, Lincoln and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Reading the books convinced me.
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Post by marklemon on Jun 12, 2007 5:25:46 GMT -5
Okay, it's not like I don't already have a huge stack of books in my "to read" pile, but here's another question for you ACW buffs. What do you think is the best single volume history of the ACW? Which gives the best, most balanced overview, contains the most up-to-date research? Which is the best narrative history? If I could only buy a couple, which would cover the bases? I have an interest in the ACW, and have read some, but the sheer number of titles on that subject in any given bookstore is staggering. Jim Jim, You might consider studying the role played in the eastern theatre (Army of Northern Virginia) by Hood's Texas Brigade. They were then and still are today considered to have been Lee's finest and hardest fighting "shock troops." As Lee said with pride: "The Texans always move them..(meaning the enemy)" (In a strange twist of organizational fate, the brigade included one regiment from Georgia, the 18th , in which my great great grandfather was a company commander) I have read extensively on this brigade, and their war record is jaw-dropping, just astounding. Many books exist on them...I would suggest (if you are interested) typing in "Hood's Texas Brigade" in Amazon.com under the books heading, and see what comes up. Mark
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Post by TRK on Jun 12, 2007 7:33:18 GMT -5
Playing the "desert island" game, I'd probably opt for Foote, too. The guy was just so elegant in his prose, with writing that will grab you and not let go.
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Post by jagjetta on Jun 12, 2007 8:55:14 GMT -5
Boy, I have been sitting on this info with excitement, but didn't think a window would open in this forum to share some ACW info. This thread is probably the closest I will find, so I am going to toss it out here. This book certainly is not the BEST single ACW volume, but it is one of the better diaries I have read in many years:
August Scherneckau. Marching With the First Nebraska: A Civil War Diary. Norman, OK: University of OK Pr., 2007. Illustrated, maps, notes, bibliography, index, hardcover in dj, 367pp. $34.95.
Bear in mind, it is not filled with battle accounts...the 1st Nebraska did a lot of provost duty around Cape Girardeau (but eventually did see some action in Arkansas). What made this book stand out for me was the depth of description of material culture and of process related to posting the provost or pickets.
I would have never guessed that I would read a diary of a Nebraska Civil War soldier, but thoroughly enjoyed it.
To the topic at hand, I guess I would have to fall back to my childhood reading and suggest Bruce Catton's trilogy consistign of Mr. Lincoln's Army (1951), Glory Road (1952) and A Stillness at Appomattox (1953). However, for sheer entertainment value (by which I mean, no note-taking while you read!), the 4-volume Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (first published in 1888) remains a favorite of mine.
John A-G
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Post by TRK on Jun 12, 2007 9:08:22 GMT -5
John, Marching with the First Nebraska sounds like a good one for us material culture guys. I'm sitting here looking at a shelf full of CW books, about 15 percent of which I've read cover-to-cover, but the one I really have to settle down and study while I still have my eyesight is Bigelow's massive The Battle of Chancellorsville. I've dabbled in it over the years, but it would surely reward a serious reading.
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Post by Herb on Jun 12, 2007 9:27:31 GMT -5
Boy, I have been sitting on this info with excitement, but didn't think a window would open in this forum .... John A-G Hey John, don't sit! ;D If it deals with history, feel free to open a topic in whatever section seems most appropriate. With this collection of individuals, somebody's bound to be interested!
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Post by stuart on Jun 12, 2007 9:40:39 GMT -5
I have to confess I’ve never found the time to read Foote’s history of the Civil War albeit badly tempted, but I can recommend his novel about Shiloh.
I’m very struck by just how much good writing there was around that time; Michael Howard’s “Franco-Prussian War” is still unrivalled and likewise Gordon Craig’s “The Battle of Koniggratz”, while further back in time Sir Reginald Savory’s “His Britannic Majesty’s Army in Germany During the Seven Years War” published in 1966 is not only scholarly and packed with insight but far more readable than its rather pedestrian title suggests.
Speaking of readable and returning to the Civil War, I’m surprised Sam Watkyns’ “Company Aytch” doesn’t get more of a mention these days. If I had to whittle my civil war collection down to just one, that would get it.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 12, 2007 9:53:49 GMT -5
Stuart, I forgot you had an interest in ACW. You're also a reenactor from that period, right? Jim
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Post by stuart on Jun 12, 2007 15:35:05 GMT -5
I do very little re-enactment these days, but now and again I shoulder my Enfield and fall into line with the 43rd North Carolina Going back to the subject of books; I would thoroughly recommend Gordon Rhea's series on the Overland Campaign; four out so far. The first one in particular; "The Battle of the Wilderness" is military history at its very best and in places sitting on the edge of your seat exciting. Another one worth looking at is Shea and Hess's book on the battle of Pea Ridge, - where Ben McCulloch got his.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jun 12, 2007 16:45:17 GMT -5
I have to cast at least one vote for "The Twentieth Maine," the first one I read on the subject when my mother gave it to me back in the 50s. I recall enjoying some of Foote and Catton many years ago, but never managed to read as much of either as I should have. Foote did a long series of articles for Life or Look magazine around 1960, the centenial, when a lot of CW stuff appeared.
AW
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Post by bobdurham on Jul 20, 2007 8:05:18 GMT -5
My favorite single-volume history of the Civil War is "Battle Cry of Freedom" by McPherson. He's a little controversial, especially among unreconstructed Rebels but I think his analysis of the causes of the war are really thought provoking.
"The 20th Maine" is one of the best unit histories ever written and I'm also a fan of Bruce Catton's Army of the Potomac trilogy. Catton was one of the first writers to make heavy use of regimental histories, which made his stuff come alive. I just finished "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" by O. Edward Cunningham. An indispensable reference for the Battle of Shiloh.
Bob
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Post by Herb on Jul 20, 2007 10:36:32 GMT -5
I just finished "Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862" by O. Edward Cunningham. An indispensable reference for the Battle of Shiloh. Bob Glad to hear a good reference, I just received it last week, from the History Book Club, though it's still in my to read pile. I guess I'm an unreconstructed rebel! ;D I don't particularly like McPherson, his analysis is too one dimensional and he conveniently ignores facts that disagree with his thesis. William Davis, who mainly agrees with McPherson thesis, seems a more honest an unbiased author, imo.
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