Rating: 
Summary: ... dissertation
Review: What a disappointment for serious Civil War students. McPherson uses his well-deserved reputation from "Battle Cry of Freedom" to hawk a relatively... short work focusing on this one battle. The book is only 200 pages in length. You have 50 pages of footnotes, index, etc., 100 pages of historical context preamble and then 50 pages of well trod accounts of this battle. Antietam a crossroad? One could argue that Vicksburg and maybe Gettysburg deserve this depiction. Borrow this book from the library.
Rating: 
Summary: Turning Point in Slow Motion
Review: This short work on the battle of Antietam by the author of Battle Cry of Freedom gives a new twist on the mysterious dynamics of the Civil War in terms of ideas of contingency, (including a short reference to such ideas in the biology S.J.Gould). This thesis raises an interesting question, perhaps an undecidable debate, but doesn't interfere with the crisp treatment of this 'turning point' in the great series of losing battles of the North slowing turning into a winning war. Contingency is indeed one aspect of the matter, yet with this great travail in the history of freedom one always sees finally something of an enigma. The whole Civil War, indeed the entire history of abolition, seems like one large turning point waiting on the contingencies of actually getting the job done. The judgement is one of scale. In any case, this account is brief, well-done, and to the point. We find that the conception of the war transforming just here from 'saving the Union' to Emancipation in the emergence as if from a crysallis of the greatly to be hoped for Republic of equals.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing--not up to the author's standards
Review: I have read and enjoyed a number of James McPherson's books and even heard him lecture at Princeton alumni events. So you could count me as a "fan," and I rushed to order this new book about Antietam as soon as it appeared. In this case, I wish I had actually had a chance to view the book before I bought it, since it is not in my opinion up to the author's usual standards for probing history. This book purportedly discusses the battle of Antietam, but only one brief chapter of five actually addresses the battle. The book is as much about the politics of the Emancipation Proclamation as it is about Antietam, so if that topic is of interest to you, by all means buy it.This is not to say that the book is not worth reading. It does a good job of setting Antietam in context, but that is not what I was seeking. It is extremely general in focus, and the brief text is interrupted by illustrations which further reduce the actual narrative and analysis. In my opinion, Steven Sears's "Landscape Turned Red" remains a far better treatment of this seminal battle.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent account
Review: James M. McPherson, who wrote the authoritative "Battle Cry of Freedom", has put together a rather short but masterful book concerning the battle of Antietam, the battle that changed the course of the Civil War. What McPherson does so well is his laying of the groundwork for the events that led up to this bloody exchange with a narrative that glides along easily. Not only are we reminded of the swings in battle outcomes but McPherson spends a good amount of time on the psyches of both the north and the south as victories turned into defeats and losses became triumphs. The author personalizes much of the book so we get to know what the commanding generals were probably thinking as well as the foot soldiers and citizens. He also includes headlines and snippets from the leading papers which I found helped to give meaning to the moods of the two sides. McPherson saves his harshest criticism for Union general George B. McClellan, whose infinite indecision cost the Union many chances for advancement. He reinforces the conclusion that McClellan, though popular with his soldiers, was not the right man at the right time. McClellan's dealings with President Lincoln are particularly revealing. "Antietam: Crossroads of Freedom" might simply have been titled "1862". It was a fascinating year during the Civil War and McPherson deserves credit for this chronicle.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent account of that period of the war...
Review: Having just fininshed reading "Crossroads of Freedom" this morning, I harken back to the day that I finished the book that I was first introduced to McPherson's writing : "Battle Cry of Freedom". I was very moved by not only the overview of the actual battle, which in the book only takes up a fraction of the narrative, but of also the events leading up to and the events after the fight. McPherson has a beautiful eloquence to his writing, and his style is very accesible, easy to follow, and very well thought out. Over the course of the last two days in reading this book, I found myself reading passages to my wife, who has a passing interest in the Civil War. She was actually very intrigued at what I was reading to her, and we sat down and had a few discussions, mainly "What if...?" scenarios that were sparked from the account of the events in the book. Antietam is of certain fascination to me, being from the Baltimore area. now that I live in Virginia, I am actually closer to Manassas than Sharpsburg, but i still cannot resist the irresistible pull that Antietam has for me. I have walked the fields many times, read the books, seen the films. What I enjoyed most about this book was that it seems to be accessible to just about anyone. It doesn't assume that you know all of the issues that led up to the fight, or all of the potentially devastating consequences that lay ahead had the Union lost the fight. McPherson spells it all out, and tells the story in such a way that you are drawn in to the story. You start to feel the tension in the air from the uncertainty of whether the English would recognize the Confederacy, to Lincoln's frustration at dealing with McClellan. I am looking forward to more volumes in the "Pivotal Moments in American History" series, and i hope that McPherson pens a few more of them.
Rating:
Summary: a survey
Review: This book is an extremely bare-boned account of the battle as well as of the larger political and military events leading up to the battle. There's comparatively little about the battle of Antietam itself. I would suggest that anyone interested in the book should first check it out of the library and read it before deciding to purchase it. The book is at the level of US History 101. This is not to say that it is a bad book; the reader, however, may want to consider how comprehensive it is, or isn't, before he or she spends the money.
Rating: 
Summary: McPherson Folly
Review: James McPherson has misconstrued the importance of the Battle of Anietam by asserting that its importance reached across the Altantic and influenced England and France not to aid the Confederacy. Queen Victoria declared in 1861 that England would remain neutral. Confederate Ambassador, William Lowndes Yancey knew before he left on his mission that the odds were against him. Southern cotton was no longer the only source for European mills. Egypt was already in the market.
McPherson has tried to "up the stakes" by making claims about the importance of the battle to Lincoln's and European decisions that just are not so. He is just another northern writer trying to polish the ineffectual fighting image of the yankees, at the expense of the South.
Rating:
Summary: History Unjustified
Review: Once again, James McPherson has left out crucial insight (see my review on Why They Fought). He is correct in surmizing that the outcome of Antietem (a draw, actually) gave Lincoln an appropriate fork in the road to emancipate slaves, hoping that this would add some moral momentum to the North's endeavors, but, he ignores the critical wording of the document which freed slaves in "those states in rebellion against the union". The emancipation did not apply to three states (Maryland, Tennessee and Louisiana) as Lincoln deemed them in his camp already (Maryland was not allowed to seceed by military occupation of it's legislature early in the conflict, Tennesse was a Republican stronghold and Louisiana was firmly under control of the Union Army. Lincoln did not want to alienate powerful people in those states who owned slaves). Leaving this information out does not give a true picture of Lincoln's motives and own opinions about slavery, not to mention the viewpoint of the rest of the north, which did not care one way or the other about the slavery issue. Exploring this left out fact would have been a greater challenge for the book, and, would have enlightened 99% of the population that has been sheltered from this truth since the war ended. Try as one might to cast a different picture of the man, Lincoln was neither a champion of abolition or the black man. They were a pawn in the game of Union preservation.
Mr. McPherson could have set the record straight once and for all.
Rating:
Summary: A Brief Overview of an Epic Battle
Review: Don't buy James McPherson's "Antietam" expecting a detailed blow-by-blow account of the battle itself. As he showed in his classic account of the entire Civil War, "Battle Cry of Freedom," McPherson is more interested in the political, social and even diplomatic aspects of America's deadliest conflict. The point of the book is to argue that Antietam, not Gettysburg, was the pivital battle of the war. McPhereson makes his argument by describing the events that led up to the battle and demonstrating how it affected what came after. Antietam, McPherson argues was the moment when the South came the closest to winning diplomatic recognition from the European powers and a resulting negotiated settlement that would have secured its independence. The aftermath of the Union "victory" at Antitam also persuaded Abraham Lincoln to finally issue the Emancipation Proclamation, turning the war once and for all into a battle against slavery. McPherson is a first rate writer and historian, and his book is well reasearched and highly readable. What it is short on, however, is accounts of the actual fighting, which resulted in the single bloodiest day in American history (far worse than even Pearl Harbor or September 11th). The narrative clocks in at a brief 155 pages, only about a third of which are devoted to the battle. Yet the book is well worth reading despite this flaw.
Overall, a brief historical overview of an epic moment in American history by one of our most distinguished historians.
Rating:
Summary: A Cogent, Concise History of the Antietam Campaign
Review: What I actually meant to say in the title is that this slim, wonderfully written book is: A cogent, concise military and political history of the Antietam, or Maryland Campaign of September 1862 and its aftermath. To those other reviewers who were upset that this was not an involved battle narrative of Antietam and chose to take issue with Professor McPherson over this, all I can say is: 1.) You've apparently never read James McPherson before, and 2.) Even Professor McPherson stated in the introduction that this was NOT a full battle history of Antietam. With the notable exceptions of "Battle Cry of Freedom" and "Lamson of the Gettysburg" Dr. McPherson writes tight, moving, beautifully written book-length essays. "Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam" is no different. He captures the mood of the country, the defeat of Pope at Second Manassas, and Lee's decision to go north, the battle itself, and President Lincoln's decision to go forth with the Emancipation Proclamation as a result of the Union victory. The passages describing the drama at Harpers Ferry when Stonewall Jackson hemmed in the hapless drunk Dixon Miles, and the vacillation of Union commanders, are among the best written on thst prelude to the Antietam battle, and while Professor McPherson may not write a lengthy battle history, he does capture of the drama and pathos of the battle exceptionally well. And as he pointed out, this book was not just a battle narrative, and he recommended that the reader interested in such do read other works including John Priest's "Antietam: The Soldier's Battle". "Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam" is just as solid and just as good as some of his earlier works including "For Cause and Comrades", "What They Fought For", "Images of the Civil War" (with Mort Kunstler), as well as "Battle Cry of Freedom". If I am effusive in my praise for this book, it is only because it is Right, and I am also indebted to Dr. McPherson's encouragement and kindness to me when our book "Civil War: Garments, History, Legends and Lore" was published. Dr. McPherson, thank you, and once again you have come through with a winner!
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