The war that forged a nation Why the Civil War still matters

James M. McPherson

Book - 2015

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Subjects
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press [2015]
Language
English
Main Author
James M. McPherson (author)
Physical Description
x, 219 pages ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780199375776
  • Perface
  • Provenance of the Contents
  • 1. Why the Civil War Still Matters
  • 2. Mexico, California, and the Coming of the Civil War
  • 3. A Just War?
  • 4. Death and Destruction in the Civil War
  • 5. American Navies and British Neutrality During the Civil War
  • 6. The Rewards of Risk-Taking: Two Civil War Admirals
  • 7. How Did Freedom Come?
  • 8. Lincoln, Slavery, and Freedom
  • 9. A. Lincoln, Commander in Chief
  • 10. The Commander Who Would Not Fight: McClellan and Lincoln
  • 11. Lincoln's Legacy for Our Time
  • 12. War and Peace in the Post-Civil War South
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A pre-eminent historian reflects on the Civil War's lasting impact on the nation.In 1861, Abraham Lincoln told Congress that the struggle to preserve the Union "is not altogether for todayit is for a vast future also." In these essays from the past eight years, McPherson (Emeritus, History/Princeton Univ.; Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief, 2014, etc.) notes the public's continuing fascination with the Civil War, with its 750,000 soldiers dead, its "larger-than-life, near mythical" figures like Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, and its great "drama and romance and tragedy." But at a deeper level, the conflict remains a lasting, seminal event in American history that transformed the average citizen's relationship with government, sparked a historic shift in values toward positive liberty, and created the continuing "legacy of slavery in the form of racial discrimination and prejudice." In many of the essays, McPherson reflects on the historiography of the war, including the ways in which academic historians' enthusiasm for social as opposed to military history has affected scholarship on Lincoln. Several essays sharply criticize the work of specific historians, including Harry Stout for misrepresentations in Upon the Altar of the Nation (2006) and T. Harry Williams for his mistaken conclusion in Lincoln and His Generals (1952) that the president was a natural war strategist. Others explore topics from the expansion of slave states to wartime naval issues to the impact on American society of death and destruction on a massive scale. In a discussion of Lincoln and slavery, the author agrees with Eric Foner that the president was anti-slavery (deeming it a violation of natural rights) but not an abolitionist (he expected slavery would eventually die out). These authoritative essays, most of which appeared previously in various formats, will appeal mainly to serious students and specialists. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.