Rating: 
Summary: Dan the man.
Review: Any students of the civil war and especially of Gettysburg will not only recognize the name of Dan Sickles but will probably already have a strong opinion about the man. Did he almost cause disaster for the Union at Gettysburg or did he save the day? That is a question that will probably be argued for the next one hundred and forty years just as it has been for the last one hundred and forty years. This book will not help the reader to decide that question, nor will it give much in the way of details about any of the battles General Sickles was involved in. This is a biography that does not dwell on the aspects of the General's life that have been detailed over and over by other authors, but instead searches for what made Dan Sickles tick.There are indeed some historical inaccuracies to be found in this book. As mentioned by other reviewers, Stonewall Jackson did not die on the battlefield at Chancellorsville and it is unlikely that Mr. Keneally's remarks about James Longstreet's actions on July 2, 1863 show any real understanding of the reality on the Confederate side of the battlefield on that hot summer day. Still, I tend to attribute that to the author concentrating on his subject and just more or less casting a glancing blow toward a subject he didn't take the time to research. On the topic of Dan Sickles the author seems to be right on target. Indeed, the author does spend a lot of time discussing Sickles' relationship with his first wife and of course on the killing of Barton Key. But to really understand Dan Sickles, one has to understand his relationships with women and his reaction to the affair his wife was having. Read carefully through these pages and you will start to understand the man and his motives. In discovering his wife's affair his pride seems to have been more wounded than his affection for his wife. He indeed seems to have realized very early that his very promising political career was ruined and one gets the distinct feeling that the loss of his power and prestige was the real cause for his murderous fury. He had very little of a relationship with his wife before the murder and soon after his trial things were pretty much back to normal. He simply was not good husband material, period. The driving force behind Dan Sickles was ambition for power and glory. Money meant little to the man and he was always in debt as he squandered the money he had in order to appear more affluent than he was. Still, he had some highly redeeming qualities. He was a mover behind the establishment of Central Park and the preservation of our battlefields. Much of his money was spent giving handouts to destitute veterans who came to him asking for help and he seems to have mastered almost any task he took on. One telling story is of Champ Clark's young son who roamed freely around the House chamber during Dan's last term in Congress. The young boy spent a lot of time on the old General's lap and always came away with his pockets filled with candy or other such treats. Dan Sickles had a good side and this book brings that out. Basically, this is a very well written book that in spite of its faults helps the reader to come to know General Dan Sickles. After reading this book one will more clearly understand all of his actions, including those actions on that fateful July afternoon in Pennsylvania.
Rating:
Summary: Dan the man.
Review: Any students of the civil war and especially of Gettysburg will not only recognize the name of Dan Sickles but will probably already have a strong opinion about the man. Did he almost cause disaster for the Union at Gettysburg or did he save the day? That is a question that will probably be argued for the next one hundred and forty years just as it has been for the last one hundred and forty years. This book will not help the reader to decide that question, nor will it give much in the way of details about any of the battles General Sickles was involved in. This is a biography that does not dwell on the aspects of the General's life that have been detailed over and over by other authors, but instead searches for what made Dan Sickles tick. There are indeed some historical inaccuracies to be found in this book. As mentioned by other reviewers, Stonewall Jackson did not die on the battlefield at Chancellorsville and it is unlikely that Mr. Keneally's remarks about James Longstreet's actions on July 2, 1863 show any real understanding of the reality on the Confederate side of the battlefield on that hot summer day. Still, I tend to attribute that to the author concentrating on his subject and just more or less casting a glancing blow toward a subject he didn't take the time to research. On the topic of Dan Sickles the author seems to be right on target. Indeed, the author does spend a lot of time discussing Sickles' relationship with his first wife and of course on the killing of Barton Key. But to really understand Dan Sickles, one has to understand his relationships with women and his reaction to the affair his wife was having. Read carefully through these pages and you will start to understand the man and his motives. In discovering his wife's affair his pride seems to have been more wounded than his affection for his wife. He indeed seems to have realized very early that his very promising political career was ruined and one gets the distinct feeling that the loss of his power and prestige was the real cause for his murderous fury. He had very little of a relationship with his wife before the murder and soon after his trial things were pretty much back to normal. He simply was not good husband material, period. The driving force behind Dan Sickles was ambition for power and glory. Money meant little to the man and he was always in debt as he squandered the money he had in order to appear more affluent than he was. Still, he had some highly redeeming qualities. He was a mover behind the establishment of Central Park and the preservation of our battlefields. Much of his money was spent giving handouts to destitute veterans who came to him asking for help and he seems to have mastered almost any task he took on. One telling story is of Champ Clark's young son who roamed freely around the House chamber during Dan's last term in Congress. The young boy spent a lot of time on the old General's lap and always came away with his pockets filled with candy or other such treats. Dan Sickles had a good side and this book brings that out. Basically, this is a very well written book that in spite of its faults helps the reader to come to know General Dan Sickles. After reading this book one will more clearly understand all of his actions, including those actions on that fateful July afternoon in Pennsylvania.
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been more compelling - where's the pics?
Review: Dan Sickles was truly an American scoundrel. He redeemed himself, though, in his fight to preserve Gettysburg as a national memorial park. This book is OK; not compelling. Hard to believe... that it did not even include any photos. A major error. So many compelling figures of the Civil War; this book should not be at the top of anyone's list. Just OK.
Rating:
Summary: Shouldnt a bio of a sociopath be more interesting than this?
Review: Dan Sickles, a Civil War-era New York politician, became notorious for shooting down the lover of his teenage wife in cold blood...and getting away with it (claiming it was justifiable). As a Union general, Sickles is famous for what is regarded by many as one of the most outrageous tactical errors of the Civil War: the advance down from Cemetary Ridge on the 2nd day of Gettysburg. Thomas Keneally's book is a lengthy--but not very invigorating or enlightening--biography of Sickles. The story of Dan Sickles is a puzzle to many Civil War buffs, but this book does not shed much light on the mystery of why a fellow who by all accounts was a murderer, a highly corrupt politician, an incompetent general, and in the whole a sociopath, rose to such positions of responsibility. So I read this book hoping to learn "how did such a maniac rise to so many positions of responsibility and power? Was he especially charming? intelligent? handsome? sneaky?" Although Thomas Keneally describes Sickles crises (especially his murder trial) in painful and fairly tedious detail, I never found my answer. Sickles appears to have had no redeeming features whatsoever. Perhaps we should not judge Keneally too harshly for being unable to find the good sides to a sociopath. But perhaps we needn't read the book about him, either.
Rating:
Summary: A biography about a very interesting character
Review: I first learned about Dan Sickles when I visited Gettysburg for the first time in 2002. The NMP touches upon the fact that he was a controversial player in the battle of Gettysburg. Fast forward to June of this year, when I'm waiting in line to buy the latest Harry Potter book and behold, this book is sitting on a shelf, out of place, staring at me. It was as if the book was calling me to read it, which I did. I'm glad I did, it gave some insight to a very complex character and certainly one of the most talked about Generals in Civil war circles. His relationship with men and women would be a great psychological study in this modern age. How he could frequent prostitues as much as he did and then murder his wife's lover is a fascinating tale, topped off with his winning defense in the murder case. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Civil War, studies of 19th century life, politics and just good biographies in general
Rating:
Summary: A biography about a very interesting character
Review: I first learned about Dan Sickles when I visited Gettysburg for the first time in 2002. The NMP touches upon the fact that he was a controversial player in the battle of Gettysburg. Fast forward to June of this year, when I'm waiting in line to buy the latest Harry Potter book and behold, this book is sitting on a shelf, out of place, staring at me. It was as if the book was calling me to read it, which I did. I'm glad I did, it gave some insight to a very complex character and certainly one of the most talked about Generals in Civil war circles. His relationship with men and women would be a great psychological study in this modern age. How he could frequent prostitues as much as he did and then murder his wife's lover is a fascinating tale, topped off with his winning defense in the murder case. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Civil War, studies of 19th century life, politics and just good biographies in general
Rating:
Summary: A Good Story
Review: I had heard good things about this book, and borrowed from my father, an American History teacher who really enjoyed it. I had a hard time getting into it at the beginning, because I was anxious for the "good stuff" to start. I would agree that Dan Sickles was a scroundrel: his affairs, his financial dealings, political activities, all very scandalous. I don't know about the historical inaccuracies that other reviewers mentioned. Several other history buffs that I know have enjoyed the book and not mentioned anything about that to me. I was disappointed at the lack of any photos, especially considering that General Sickles lived well into the 20th century. Also, I would have enjoyed some more direct quotes from letters and diaries of those involved. I have recommended this book to friends, and I recommend it to anyone interested in that time period in American history.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Story
Review: I had heard good things about this book, and borrowed from my father, an American History teacher who really enjoyed it. I had a hard time getting into it at the beginning, because I was anxious for the "good stuff" to start. I would agree that Dan Sickles was a scroundrel: his affairs, his financial dealings, political activities, all very scandalous. I don't know about the historical inaccuracies that other reviewers mentioned. Several other history buffs that I know have enjoyed the book and not mentioned anything about that to me. I was disappointed at the lack of any photos, especially considering that General Sickles lived well into the 20th century. Also, I would have enjoyed some more direct quotes from letters and diaries of those involved. I have recommended this book to friends, and I recommend it to anyone interested in that time period in American history.
Rating: 
Summary: An uneven account of an interesting figure
Review: Keneally builds his book around two pivotal events in Dan Sickles' life; his muder of Barton Key, his wife's lover, in 1859, and his generalship on the second day at the Battle of Gettysburg. The description of the trial, and its cast of characters, was well written and engaging. The story of Gettysburg, and Sickles' career throughout the Civil War, is marred by many errors of fact that a competent editor should have caught. To mention two, during the Confederate attack on May 2 at Chancellorsville, Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded. He was not killed, as Keneally states in two different places in his text. Second, Hancock's role during the evening of the first day at Gettysburg disappears from sight in Keneally's telling. There is only O.O. Howard, and Dan Sickles' determination to fight at Gettysburg, on display in Keneally's text. I'll leave aside the controversy concerning Sickles' action on the afternoon of July 2, a controversy on which, amazingly, Keneally takes no position. I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book, particularly the material on political life in New York City and the trial, but found the Civil War material poorly done. It seemed to me, from the cursory job Keneally did with the last fifty years of Sickles' life, that he tired of his subject, and failed to give us much insight into this complex character.
Rating: 
Summary: Bring on an editor!
Review: Keneally has offered us a roller coaster of a biography of one of the most controversial American figures of the 19th Century. Dan Sickles rose from Tammany Hall politics in New York through a London posting to Congress. While a representative his lovely, but often abandoned, wife Teresa became involved with the widower son of the composer of the Star Spangled Banner, America's national anthem. Ignoring this heritage, Sickles slew Barton Keys on a Washington Sunday in view of several witnesses. After a bizarre trial, in which the then novel plea of "temporary insanity" was invoked, Sickles left the courtroom free of guilt. Almost fortuitously, the onset of the War Between the States allowed Sickles to redeem whatever reputation he lost. As one of the Union's "political generals" Sickles proved to be a popular and capable leader. Gettysburg, that icon of American military history, proved his salvation or disgrace according to which account you follow. Did he risk another Union defeat by ignoring his superior's orders? Keneally uses Teresa's lonely existence as the focal point of this biography. Although Sickles was hardly a paragon of virtue, Keneally is perplexed at his long-standing avoidance of Teresa. He muses over why Sickles kept separate habitation after the killing when Teresa clearly would have welcomed his return. Later, he mourns the lack of her presence at Sickles' various Army encampments when other generals had their wives visit, if for no other reason than troop morale. Meagher, a favourite of Keneally's, is held up in contrast. This Irish ex-convict's wife "Libby" graced the camp frequently. Libby, however, hadn't taken any lovers to arouse her husband's ire. Even after a thorough analysis of the mores of the times, Keneally can't forgive Dan Sickles failure to forgive. This book is strangely structured. Keneally provides a long build-up to the murder, then dwells over the details of the trial. No particular is overlooked, from the courtroom temperature to the malodorous spectators. Forced to limit his description of one lawyer's two day long presentation to eight pages, Keneally manages to convey the role of oratory in the United States at mid-19th Century. Sickles' role as a general is well-presented, but is over-focussed. Sickles' ability to deal with Mary Lincoln is given more space than military engagements or the war environment. As a biography, there is some rationale for this, but the reader best consult some other works for a fuller picture. The post-war years, with Sickles postings to the Reconstruction South and his escapades in Europe slide past rapidly. His bizarre second marriage and later life could use some analysis, no matter how far-fetched, but Keneally simply rambles through the known information and leaves the reader to work out the motivations. At the end, he frankly states the book was written in honour of Teresa's memory. An unusual approach, but one likely to find favour with today's audience.
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