From Fields of Fire and Glory: Letters of the Civil War

Rating:
Summary: Good, intimate, history
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Gragg! It intersects 2 areas of interests for me: the Civil War, and Griffin & Sabine-esque enclosures.

The book is filled with photography and quotes from common soldiers of the North and South. But what makes the book especially interesting are it's enclosures -- reproduced letters, stationary, handwriting, and all -- that give an interesting first person history of the Civil War. These letters have a I'm-reading-someone-else's-mail a voyueristic appeal, but also add insight into the Civil War that narrative histories can't equal.

I knew I would like this format after enjoying the many letters in Ken Burns' Civil War, and I was not disappointed at all. This book adds tactile pleasure of holding the letters that Ken Burns Civil War could not.

Very enjoyable. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Good, intimate, history
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Gragg! It intersects 2 areas of interests for me: the Civil War, and Griffin & Sabine-esque enclosures.

The book is filled with photography and quotes from common soldiers of the North and South. But what makes the book especially interesting are it's enclosures -- reproduced letters, stationary, handwriting, and all -- that give an interesting first person history of the Civil War. These letters have a I'm-reading-someone-else's-mail a voyueristic appeal, but also add insight into the Civil War that narrative histories can't equal.

I knew I would like this format after enjoying the many letters in Ken Burns' Civil War, and I was not disappointed at all. This book adds tactile pleasure of holding the letters that Ken Burns Civil War could not.

Very enjoyable. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Humbling
Review: There are not many books that bring the Civil War to life in such a way as this one does by Rod Gragg. To read the actual letters written by Civil War soldiers - both North and South - in their own hand is one of the most humbling experiences this social historian has ever had in studying history. Letters describing battles, life in camp, camaraderie between soldiers, and a particularly gruesome first person account by a Quaker nurse's experiences during surgery. One very sad letter written by a dying soldier (who's own blood stained the letter itself) told his father of "the particulars of my death. I would like to rest in the grave yard with my dear mother and brothers...Let us all try to reunite in heaven..."
First person accounts such as these gave me quite a humbling experience. Then to have the photographs and a bit of biographical information of those who wrote these vignetts of a long ago time just about brings it all home.
I cannot recommend enough this truly amazing book. It gives one a whole new perspective of the War Between the States (as it was known then), every bit as much as Ken Burn's documentary.
If there ever was a book that brings the past to life, this is it.