Fields of Fury: The American Civil War

Rating:
Summary: Enthralling
Review: Although this book is geared towards 9-12 year olds, it is easily educational for kids five times that age. The pictures are fantastic and present emotions and details that I have not seen in many other Civil War books. Although we bought this book for my son, I would easily have bought it for myself. It really does put you smack in the middle of that time period. Very impressive.

Rating:
Summary: A book everybody should read
Review: It's a great book that everybody should read. It has got lots of facts about the Civil War. It tells a lot about the people that were involved. I learned that there was a plan named Anaconda Plan where the Union surrounded the South and then they would cut off all their supplies and that John Wilkes Booth had a brother.

Rating:
Summary: A concise juvenile history of the American Civil War
Review: James M. McPherson won the Pulitzer Prize for "Battle Cry of Freedom," so he certainly brings impressive credentials to this history of the Civil War for younger readers. "Fields of Fury: The American Civil War" is done as a series of two-page spreads. The right side is a full-page photograph, map, painting, or other illustration; the left side contains 3-5 paragraphs of text, a sidebar of Quick Facts, and some smaller illustrations. After background section on the origins of the Civil War, the slavery issues, and Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the rest of the book is structure around the major battles of the war from Fort Sumter to Appomattox. In between there are looks at both the military side of the war (e.g., the Anaconda Plan, Andersonville prison) and civilian life (e.g., Women at War). The book concludes with a look at Reconstruction, which is followed by a Glossary, decent Bibliography, Civil War Sites on the Web, and Index.

"Field of Fury" touches upon a lot of Civil War topics in a concise manner, using not only descriptions of the battles but personal anecdotes from the soldiers at the battlefront and the civilians at home. Major politicians and soldiers are profiled as well. The result is a solid introduction to the topic of the Civil War. McPherson???s narrative is accompanied by black-and-white photographs by Civil War photographers Mathew Brady and Timothy O'Sullivan, period oil paintings, and key campaign and battlefield maps. The result is a nice little introduction to the Civil War with excellent production values, although this is a lot of information for young readers to absord. If a student was looking at a particular topic like the Emancipation Proclamation or a specific battle like Vicksburg, then "Fields of Fury" provides some basic information. You will not get a lot of depth, but you will get some sense of context. This book can also work as a supplemental text to a juvenile history of the Battle of Gettysburg or Sherman's March to the Sea n providing that sort of context as well.

Rating:
Summary: A concise juvenile history of the American Civil War
Review: James M. McPherson won the Pulitzer Prize for "Battle Cry of Freedom," so he certainly brings impressive credentials to this history of the Civil War for younger readers. "Fields of Fury: The American Civil War" is done as a series of two-page spreads. The right side is a full-page photograph, map, painting, or other illustration; the left side contains 3-5 paragraphs of text, a sidebar of Quick Facts, and some smaller illustrations. After background section on the origins of the Civil War, the slavery issues, and Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the rest of the book is structure around the major battles of the war from Fort Sumter to Appomattox. In between there are looks at both the military side of the war (e.g., the Anaconda Plan, Andersonville prison) and civilian life (e.g., Women at War). The book concludes with a look at Reconstruction, which is followed by a Glossary, decent Bibliography, Civil War Sites on the Web, and Index.

"Field of Fury" touches upon a lot of Civil War topics in a concise manner, using not only descriptions of the battles but personal anecdotes from the soldiers at the battlefront and the civilians at home. Major politicians and soldiers are profiled as well. The result is a solid introduction to the topic of the Civil War. McPherson's narrative is accompanied by black-and-white photographs by Civil War photographers Mathew Brady and Timothy O'Sullivan, period oil paintings, and key campaign and battlefield maps. The result is a nice little introduction to the Civil War with excellent production values, although this is a lot of information for young readers to absord. If a student was looking at a particular topic like the Emancipation Proclamation or a specific battle like Vicksburg, then "Fields of Fury" provides some basic information. You will not get a lot of depth, but you will get some sense of context. This book can also work as a supplemental text to a juvenile history of the Battle of Gettysburg or Sherman's March to the Sea n providing that sort of context as well.