Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War Hardcover - 1996
by James M. McPherson
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom now offers a series of thoughtful and engaging essays on some of the most enduring questions of the Civil War. Each essay reveals McPherson's own profound knowledge of the Civil War and of the controversies among historians, presenting all sides in clear, lucid prose and concluding with his own measured and eloquent opinions.
From the rear cover
Filled with fresh interpretations, puncturing old myths and challenging new ones, Drawn With the Sword explores such questions as why the North won and why the South lost (emphasizing the role of contingency in the Northern victory), whether Southern or Northern aggression began the war, and who really freed the slaves, Abraham Lincoln or the slaves themselves. McPherson offers memorable portraits of the great leaders who people the landscape of the Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant, struggling to write his memoirs with the same courage and determination that marked his successes on the battlefield; Robert E. Lee, a brilliant general and a true gentleman, yet still a product of his time and place; and Abraham Lincoln, the leader and orator whose mythical figure still looms large over our cultural landscape. And McPherson discusses often-ignored issues such as the development of the Civil War into a modern "total war" against both soldiers and civilians, and the international impact of the American Civil War in advancing the cause of republicanism and democracy in countries from Brazil and Cuba to France and England. Of special interest is the final essay, entitled "What's the Matter With History?", a trenchant critique of the field of history today, which McPherson describes here as "more and more about less and less". He writes that professional historians have abandoned narrative history written for the greater audience of educated general readers in favor of impenetrable tomes on minor historical details which serve only to edify other academics, thus leaving the historical education of the general public to films and television programs such as Glory and Ken Burns's PBS documentary TheCivil War.
Details
- Title Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War
- Author James M. McPherson
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 272
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Oxford University Press, USA, New York
- Date 1996-04-18
- ISBN 9780195096798 / 0195096797
- Weight 1.09 lbs (0.49 kg)
- Dimensions 8.82 x 5.92 x 0.94 in (22.40 x 15.04 x 2.39 cm)
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 1851-1899
- Topical: Civil War
- Library of Congress subjects United States - History - Civil War,
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 95038107
- Dewey Decimal Code 973.7
Media reviews
Citations
- Booklist, 03/01/1996, Page 1119
- Kirkus Reviews, 02/15/1996, Page 278
- Library Journal, 03/01/1996, Page 0
- New York Times, 04/21/1996, Page 27
- Publishers Weekly, 02/26/1996, Page 92
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