Rating: 
Summary: A Masterpiece of Historiography
Review: "Battle Cry of Freedom" has been on my mental must read list for a few years. But, other commitments (mainly law school) prevented me from sitting down and reading too many books, especially a 867-page tome. But, now that I have a certain amount of free time on my hands, as well as a renewed interest in things historical, I finally got the chance to read it. In a word: MASTERPIECE.
I'm not going to dissect the books factual accuracy or McPherson's thesis and conclusions. That's for another time. (Since the book won the Pulitzer, the odds are good that all of that was done right; the copious footnotes and bibliographical material lend credence to that.)
The merits of the book are the issue, and they are many. First, despite its considerable length, McPherson's writing is brisk, crisp, and engrossing. The first chapter or so, which reviews the developments in the United States, north and south, leading up to the Civil War, specifically the impact of industrialization on the population of the country, can be a little slow. However, when McPherson begins to examine the relationship between the north and the south, particularly the split on the slavery issue, the books really takes off, and I had great difficulty in putting it down.
McPherson's prose is very vivid. His arguments for the inescapable import of slavery to the Civil War are abundant and persuasive. But they are balanced arguments, acknowledging the ambiguities of the issue, as he differentiates pure abolitionists from those who feared slavery's impact on the free-labor, and acknowledges that not all abolitionists particularly wanted the freed slaves to remain in the United States. He is also very honest about Lincoln's initial interest in preserving the Union, regardless of the slavery issue, and charts Lincoln's shift from this stance into an essentially abolitionist by necessity as the war progressed. He also details the subsequent schism in the Confederacy wherein slavery became hindrance to independence, and debate about conscripting blacks into the army (critiques by other reviewers that McPherson discounted this are incorrect).
McPherson is also pretty evenhanded in his discussion of the war itself. He takes time to discuss the political, social, and economic impacts on both sides of the war, creating a full picture of this horrible conflict. The names you know become a little more real: Lincoln, Davis, Grant, Lee, Sherman, Jackson are just that much more real to me. While McPherson doesn't spend a huge amount of ink examining these men, he gives us vital facts about their lives, and is quite content to allow their actions speak for them. His examination of those actions are frequently instructive.
While McPherson's main interest is the politics of the war, he is no slouch when it comes to examining the battlefield. Even in the dispassionate recounting that McPherson the historian provides does little to alleviate the horror of the war. McPherson paints a brutal picture of a country tearing itself apart, and the lives lost as a consequence.
The aspect of this book that impacted my world view was the acknowledgment that the country was different after the war. This is an obvious statement. But McPherson explains a point that I "knew" but never really thought about: the South represented, in McPherson's words, the mainstream of the world, that is, it had more in common with the majority of Europe. It was the North that was "radical". All in all, I find myself pleased that the radical view won out.
Rating:
Summary: Excellently written account with superb breadth of vision
Review: As a British reader, McPherson's book was an introduction to Civil War history for the purposes of coursework, and I found it superb.The initial three hundred pages provide a sweeping overview of the social and political pressures that led to war. There is then a hundred or so pages that vividly paints the attitudes of a nation faced with war, and finally the military narrative kicks in. McPherson writes with exceptional poise, balancing the chronological and thematic threads of his work to near perfection. Events in the west, east and political spheres of the war are detailed with the intricate interconnections intact due to excellent arrangement. This narrative is well scattered with analysis and presentation of different viewpoints, as well as sections of broad thematic interest eg. POW camps. There are more than enough quotations, both from primary and secondary sources. As for bias, I happened to think the bravery of the Southern soldiers, and the pride of the Southern people, came across well. Some reviewer's comments lead me to believe they had read a different book to me! "nothern soldiers...had no love for slavery. They fought for the Union and against treason...whilst some Yanks treated contrabrands with a degree of equity...the more typical response was indifference, contempt or cruelty." The reader is constantly reminded of the vein of racism of Northern society, ranging from the poorest immigrant fearing for his job, to the Democrat politicians who persisted in playing the 'race' card until the very end. The leftward shift of Lincoln is also noted. As for Southern motives: "slavery and independence were each a means as well as an end in symbiotic relationship with each other, each essential for the survival of both" In no way does McPherson cite slavery as the lone cause, he (sensibly) notes that it was the clash (via all the issues eg. Kansas, California, Dred Scoott which he details in the early chapters) that was at the centre of the "perceived nothern threat" to "preserve (the South's) vision of the republic of the founding fathers - a government of limited powers that protected the rights of property." The most I would concede that he could perhaps hammer home the state rights point a tiny bit more, but I cannot credit that he paints a polarised picture as suggested by some other reviews. In fact, some of the counter-arguments look to me as though they have been lifted straight from 'Battle-Cry of Freedom's text! My only (minor) complaint was that the epilogue, an analytical overview, was so useful and interesting it should have been a lot longer! This is one of the best historical works I have ever read and was supremely useful to me.
Rating:
Summary: A Standard in Civil War Research
Review: I am not one of the many "experts" on the Civil War. I am a novice on the subject. But I must say that I think it will be hard for me to find a single volume work on the Civil War that surpasses Battle Cry of Freedom. The author does a marvelous job of painting a picture of the nature of the war and the events that led up to it. This is not just a battle by battle account of the war. Rather it speaks of the battles and the political and social ramafications that those battles had. This book is award winning and does not need my written approval, but I just had to say something about. This book is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good
Review: I found McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom to be a great history not only of the Civil War, but also, as the cover suggests, the Civil War Era (includes years preceding the war). McPherson does an excellent job of plainly explaining the events that led to this bloody conflict, its causes,not to mention the war itself. It also does well detailing the great ramifications that resulted from the war, from the rise of free labor capitalism in the U.S. as well as the shaping of the modern political parties. The only problems I had with the book were the maps, which tended to contain too much information per map, and the footnotes, which became somewhat annoying. Otherwise, recommended to anyone wishing to study the Civil War Era.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific One-Volume History
Review: I'm just a neophyte when it comes to Civil War history, but after moving to Maryland I thought it was about time I started getting better acquainted with it. Like many Americans, I was enthralled by the PBS Civil War series of some years back. Prior to that, I had exposure to the history of the period in a college class or two. Back then, the revisionist view of the War held that the hostilities stemmed predominantly from economic causes. McPherson's tome, which manages, adeptly, to be both readable and scholarly, reveals how complex this War and its causes were. If you expect to join the battle within the first chapter or two, be forewarned. McPherson devotes considerable space to the lead up to the conflict. If one is patient, one will end up savoring McPherson's careful exposition of the events and circumstances of the first half of the nineteenth century that resulted in this horrific conflict. One learns that, yes, economic circumstances played a role, as did slavery from various angles (economic, sociological, social justice, etc.), the desire to preserve the Union, and the desire to preserve a way of life. One learns as the book progresses that the causes were not constant, nor were they pure; Lincoln seems a lot more real once one recognizes that his attitudes towards abolition, freedom, and black suffrage were nuanced, were not completely principled, and were affected by events. I particularly enjoyed the brief treatment of the war at sea--not an aspect of the conflict that seems to get a lot of popular attention, aside from the armored ships. The battles, at land and on sea, were depicted with an economy of words; McPherson's narratives manage to be to the point and clear, and often moving. And it is fascinating to read how close the Republicans came to losing the election of 1864. Like at least one other reviewer, I noted with alarm the pages dwindle before the war really seemed to be over. Lincoln's assassination is only briefly mentioned, and the reconstruction is left for another volume of the Oxford series. However that may be, this reader yearned for some discussion of the more immediate aftermath of the events described, and of the fate of more than one or two of the key players in the War. But it should be a compliment to the author that after some 860-someodd pages the reader still wants more. Buy this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Go read Shelby Foote
Review: If you wish to read the account of the American tragedy from a true historian, and not a socialist mutt, pick up Shelby Foote's brilliant, un-PC, 3 volume set. There's really nothing else to say. James McPherson is to history as Lenin is to Russian peasants...........a butcher!
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding account of the American Civil War
Review: In 'Battle Cry of Freedom' James M. McPherson has written an account of the American Civil War that is stunning and simply outstanding. His grasp of the subject matter is so complete that if I had to suggest just one Civil War history to a friend this book would be it. The strength of this book is in the balanced approach it presents. There are plenty of books that are either pro-confederate and pro-union. We all have an internal bias and thus particular books will appeal at particular times. If you want a biased stance then 'Battle Cry' is not the one for you. There is no moralising in this book, no great ethical debates that must by their nature get in the way of the subject. It is both refreshing and attractive that McPherson presents the facts in a clear and objective manner. However, 'Battle Cry' is no dusty acedemic text, rather there is an intense passion within its pages that will make you stay up late at night wanting to read more. McPherson has attempted and indeed suceeded in presenting so much more than an account of the battles of the war - he skillfully merges politics, the social and the economical and of course military history. The result is an overview that sweeps the reader before it. What I found particularly useful was the account of events leading up to the war. The chapters exploring the nature of the American people and their country before the war offered a detailed grounding from which the actual conflict could be viewed and thus analysed. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to you. As a piece of historical writing it is without doubt excellent, but as a piece of Civil War historical writing it is of the highest order.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly well written and very deserving of the Pulitzer
Review: It is almost as good as Shelby Foote's excellent three volume epic on The Civil War.
Unfortunately, I cannot give Battle Cry that fifth star no matter how good the writing. If there is one thing I love in historical works, it is objectivity. James McPherson has none. He is yet another "slavery is the cause" historians who ignore obvious facts and evidence to the contrary. Several times throughout Battle Cry he states as fact, slavery was the cause, without even acknowledging the other evidence. Unacceptable.
Rating:
Summary: My thoughts on Battle Cry of Freedom
Review: It's amusing to read the various reviews that accuse McPherson of bias: they are based on the reviewers' own biases, and certainly not on any real understanding of history. Any one-volume history of this enormously difficult period will necessarily leave things out, but McPherson gets the overall flavor right, and is factually correct. The war was begun by the South, which had been fighting to extend slavery. Any other understanding is simply wrong, and is in fact a wilful misreading of history.
McPherson's writing is excellent, his research thorough, and his conclusions incontrovertable. His treatment of the political conflict leading up to the Civil War is clear, which is no mean feat in itself. This is the one indispensible book on the Civil War.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but biased
Review: McPherson gives a good history of the war, but his opinions are evident. This professor is a strong Unionist, staunchly supports the idea that slavery was the cornerstone for the war, and has denied fact-based evidence of black Confederate soldiers. Worth reading but don't use it as your sole resource
|
