Rating: 
Summary: First exposure to this side.
Review: This is the first book I have read that did not support the history put forth in the schools I attended. I have run into indivdual things that did not seem to fit the accepted historical accounts, but nothing that brought it all together like this book. I am not a writer, so I will not attempt to critique in that regard.
Pros: Eye-opener for those not already exposed to this material. Very thought-provoking. Very good price here (I bought it at a bookstore for full retail price).
Cons: Too repetitive. Makes many good points, then repeats them too many times from slightly different angles (perhaps that is for the benefit of victims of public schooling).
Rating: 
Summary: Not so cut and dry.
Review: It is funny how the reviews are polarized along North and South just like the war. Most people that fought for the South, fought because it was their "home team." Same as most northerners fought for the North. Same as these reviews; if you are from the North, you pull for the North; if from the South you pull for the South--with some exceptions on both sides.No matter the reason for starting the war, the men fought for their team. If you were in the South and were against slavery, do you think Sherman's men gave a damn when they laid waste to everything in their path. How about Sheridan when he burned the valley? The North made war against the South--all of it. Men may have had big ideals and great causes, but when the war broke out they had to choose sides. I would like to think I would have stood against slavery if I was in the South, but I'm sure I would have fought for my home--anti-slavery be damned. Lee was a good example of this. He was totally against seccesion, but he would not fight against Virginia and he was not going to just stand by while Virginia went to war. There were exceptions to all of this, but by far the men fought for their home. The Civil War was not simply cut and dry and I think this book shows that. I don't know if the South would have been better off if it had won--no one knows that. But I do know with all of her problems, still, the United States of America is the greatest country in the world.
Rating:
Summary: Not ENOUGH books like this out there!
Review: To the victors goes the history! The North won the War, and they have written the books from their perspective. I think it is interesting to see the reviews are almost all either 5 stars or 1 star, little middle ground here. Without trying to white-wash the American complicity with slavery, this book does attempt to give the reader more facts -- Yes, facts! -- regarding the tumultuous time of secession. If you do not believe that Massachussetts continued in the slave trade long after Virginia, look it up! If you do not believe that women of color kept slaves, look it up! If you do not believe that Abraham Lincoln suspended the right of habeus corpus 140 years before the Bush, Jr. administration, LOOK IT UP! The facts are out there for those who are willing to look beyond the pablum propaganda fed to us in grade school. Oh, but if it were just as simple as the virtuous North trying to discipline the naughty South and allow freedom to ring across the continent! I am fortunate to be married to a member of the faculty of the university where the "Civil War" symposium is held every year, and having gone to many of the seminars and spoken with many authorities, I can assure you it was not that simple. The civil rights atrocities by the North as well as the South can not be excused, yet even U. S. president, Southerner, and author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson owned slaves while arguing for its abolition until his death. We do a disservice to our history by ignoring its complexity.
So why only three stars? Obviously, this book "preaches to the choir" and opens few minds. Several of the 1-star brigade would not even finish it through before dismissing it as racist (???). Imagine tossing down Machiavelli's "The Prince" or Paine's "A Modest Proposal" because you are offended by its thesis. This book fails as arguement in that it does not convince the sceptic, or even hold him to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Propaganda
Review: This is pure, unadulterated white supremacy propaganda, and its only value is a view into the minds of people who believe this stuff. I have lived most of my life in the South, have been teaching American history for 35 years and am amazed that books like this are so widely read and endorsed.
Rating: 
Summary: This book belongs in any serious Civil War Library
Review: This book should be in everyone's library that seriously wants to discuss the Civil War. Documenting facts from Shelby Foote, Douglass Freeman, the O.R., as well as many others, the author pulls aside the veil of falsehood the Conquering North invented. We learn the exact dollars the Southern states paid into the Union in 1859; how Lincoln wanted a Civil War, and failed as a leader from the start, ( sitting in his home at Galena, Illinois, after being elected, while state after state seceded, not making one speech or writing one letter to try to prevent a war) Lincoln's refusal to meet with Southern leaders for any type of appeasement, or diplomacy. The atrocities the Union troops committed against the Southern women, New Manchester and Roswell, Georgia. ( Transported to Northern concentration camps, raped along the way. NONE of them ever to be heard from again) Col. John Basil Turchin, formerly Ivan Vasilevich Turchininov, of the Imperial Russian Army, allowed his soldiers to plunder, pillage and rape the women of Athens, Ala. All with Lincoln's approval. The hatred the invading Northern Army had for Southern churches, clergy and Southern religion.
Other countries that have seceded peacefully. The constitutional right to secede, and the United States failure to prosecute Jefferson Davis for session. In closing, one could spend months or years, reading several books to find these facts, but it is all here in one book. I'd advise, when you read this book, use your yellow high lighter, you'll find yourself going back to find references many times.
Rating:
Summary: LETS GET REAL!
Review: Serioulsy folks, this book is sheer revisionist history. Im sure there are some people in Frankfurt who think Hitler was right also. No need to discuss the particulars as I couldnt get through it.
Rating:
Summary: Who do these jokers think they're trying to fool?!?
Review: As a student of the Civil war AND a Northerner, this title intrigued me for it's entirely southern viewpoint. However, after reading it, it's clear the Kennedy's didn't set out to write a historical perspective, but rather an revisionist [false] piece in an obvious attempt to deceive others that the secession was over everything BUT slavery, using false accusations, dancing around facts, and outright lying. This has to be your ONLY Civil War book if you really want to believe any of the claims the authors make here.
Here are some glaring problems in the book that any student of history will see right away- ...1) The authors claim that Lincoln's aggression left the south no choice but secession, concealing the fact that the south began seceding from the union before Lincoln was even inaugurated ...2) The authors make great mention in that the famous leader, Gen. Robert E. Lee disapproved of slavery, concealing the fact that ANOTHER famous leader, Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, became rich from the slave trade ...3)The authors mention that Jefferson Davis made no mention of defending slavery in his inaugural speech, concealing the fact that the his vice president, Alexander Stevens, did, as well as did numerous southern state governors ...4)The authors claim that a factor of the war was over differences in culture between the north and south, concealing the main reason for the difference in culture between north and south WAS slavery. I stopped reading this nonsense when I came across the authors' exalting black troops who served the Confederacy, such as Louisiana's Pelican Rifles. The authors are lying- the Pelican Rifles was captured by Federals before they ever fired a shot. This unit later joined Federal service, another fact the authors conceal. If you buy this book expecting food for thought, you'll only wind up with a bad taste in your mouth.
Rating:
Summary: Redneck racist rhetoric
Review: I am a white male who has lived in the South all my life and I can assure you these narrow-minded bigots do not speak for me, as they claim to represent the "true South." Now, if the Kennedy boys will get back up on the poarch with their banjos, Ronny Cox and his guitar should be along any time now for a jam session.
Rating:
Summary: SHATTERING political correctness and SOUTHERN BASHING !!
Review: I highly recommend this book to ALL Americans, especially students and truth seekers. It is a work that is well done and I commend the Kennedys for their expose' of northern efforts toward re-writing the history to suit their own agenda. After reading several other reviews on this book, it became ever so clear to me that most southern people present their points of view in terms of historical and political discussion while northerners tend to get personal and bash southern people, portraying them as ignorant and underserving to live. That is a childish tenant of someone who has nothing of value to add to a conversation so they resort to name calling and other such poisonous spewtum. I think one of the most useful parts of the book is the Addendum section that reprints historical documents of the era such as Jefferson Davis' farwell speech and inauguration speeches. You can't argue with factual data from the era to show what was on people's minds. Newspaper articles, interviews, etc. also give an excellent cross section of the era's politics and current thoughts of the populace of the day. Now that's history you can't argue with. Let the Yankees say what they will, you have to take an honest look at this book and take it for what it is, a body of facts from the 1860s. GREAT BOOK and I highly recommend it. A great read and a must for those who want to know the truth.
Rating:
Summary: Southern Classic
Review: This book should be in every Southern library. Anyone, desiring to know the truth of the War Between the States, Southern Culture and Reconstruction should read this book.
Written by Southern authors, many topics are explored and facts documented. Don't be mislead by the Northern propaganda machine any longer.
This book has sold over 100,000 hard copies and is a quiet best seller.
Buy It!
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