This book is undoubtedly the best 1-volume book on the war that divided and reunited America but ended some of our back-then traditions such as slavery. That is, 3 weeks of contemplating reading it and proceeding to finish it in 3 days. Being a young history buff, it took me 3 weeks and 3 days to read this. It has a good balance of the battles such as Gettysburg and Antietam while it does discuss the social, political, and economic factors that also fueled the war. Was the liberation of four million slaves and the preservation of the Union worth the cost? That question too will probably never cease to be debated-but in 1865 few Black people and not many northerners doubted the answer.' (less)īeing a young history buff, it took me 3 weeks and 3 days to read this.

The number of southern civilians who died as a direct or indirect result of the war cannot be known what can be said is that the Civil War's cost in American lives was as great as in all of the nation's other wars combined through Vietnam. More than 620,000 soldiers lost their lives in four years of conflict-360,000 Yankees and at least 260,000 rebels. Meanwhile the process of chronicling the war and reckoning its consequences began immediately and has never ceased. 'The terms of.peace and the dimensions of black freedom would occupy the country for a decade or more. The first approximately 200 pages are spent debunking the Lost Cause myth. Here's the last paragraph of …more Lol this book is the anti-Lost Cause history. Rinehart Lol this book is the anti-Lost Cause history. The reader will find a truly masterful chronicle of the war itself-the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities-as well as McPherson's thoughtful commentary on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory.Ī must-have purchase for the legions of Civil War buffs, The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom is both a spectacularly beautiful volume and the definitive account of the most important conflict in our nation's history.moreī. The text itself, streamlined by McPherson, remains a fast-paced narrative that brilliantly captures two decades of contentious American history, from the Mexican War to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. More important, he has written extensive captions (some 35,000 words in all, virtually a book in themselves), many of which offer genuinely new information and interpretations that significantly enhance the text. McPherson has selected all the illustrations, including rare contemporary photographs, period cartoons, etchings, woodcuts, and paintings, carefully choosing those that best illuminate the narrative. Boasting some seven hundred pictures, including a hundred and fifty color images and twenty-four full-color maps, here is the ultimate gift book for everyone interested in American history. Now available in a splendid new edition is The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom. And The Los Angeles Times wrote that of the 50,000 books written on the Civil War, it is the finest compression of that national paroxysm ever fitted between two covers. The Washington Post called it the finest single volume on the war and its background. It was hailed in The New York Times as historical writing of the highest order. Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History and a New York Times Bestseller, Battle Cry of Freedom is universally recognized as the definitive account of the Civil War. Order today, because quantities are limited. It features high-quality paper, colored end-papers, gold-foil edging, and packaged in a sturdy box-wrap.

Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History and a New York Times Bests This collector's quality, leather-bound edition of The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom, is hand-signed and numbered by the author, James M.

This collector's quality, leather-bound edition of The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom, is hand-signed and numbered by the author, James M.

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