Orwell,
Check out these titles after you read the best Civil War fiction writer out there, Shelby Foote.
1. Attack and Die--McWhiney and Jamieson. This book is about Civil War tactics as practiced by both the Northern and Southern military minds. It talks about and explores the changes in weaponry. Most importantly, though, it shows how reckless some military commanders were, namely Hood, Lee, Buell, and Grant.
2. For Cause and Comrades: Why Soldiers Fought in the Civil War--James McPherson. This book explores soldiers' letters written to family left behind. It explores the psychology of the front line soldier during those trying years. One thing McPherson examines quite well is the Southern soldiers' contradiction and that was, most Rebel soldiers claimed in 1861 that they were going to fight to protect their homes, their families, their states. As the war was carried out, leaving their homes only made them susceptible to Yankee armies coming in their wake. By 1863 hordes of Rebel soldiers fled the front lines to go home and protect their wives and daughters. The book is short and it is an easy read.
3. Rebel Private--Bill Fletcher. This book is a primary source memoir of the war as experienced by a Rebel private from Texas. He talks about why he joined the CSA, why he left home, and he offers some unique perspectives on the political causes of the war. This book is a must for anyone reading about the CW. It is told in story book fashion and uncovers exactly what the "elephant" was like for one Texas private.
4. Battle Cry of Freedom--J. McPherson. This epic length book examines the prelude to war, starting as early as 1808 when the slave trade was abolished in this country. It continues until the surrender at Appomatox. It leaves no stone unturned and is the most conclusive work on the CW to my knowledge. Juxtapose this book and its scholarly findings with Shelby Foote's fiction.
5. After Secession: Jeff Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism--Paul Escott. Another short read that explores why the South did not suceed in their secession movement. Escott critically examines Jeff Davis and his policies, and the reasons Davis' policies were a failure. Escott also examines the dis-unity of the secession movement. Did you know that most Southern states did not turn the issue of secession over to the voters of their states? Most southern politicrats circa 1861 merely seceded without popular support. States most affected by Unionists were, of course, Missouri, Arkansas, East Tennessee, North Carolina, and the western counties of Virginia. Did you now that some counties in the Confederacy organized their own militias in order to repel Confederate authorities from coming into their counties. The book does much to dispel the theory that the South was united from 1860-1865, and it dispels the myth that the war was 'between the states'. No, actually it was a civil war in all sense of the term.
This should keep you busy for now. I expect a full report on these title by this time next week, so you better get crackin', cracka!
email me at buckethead22000@yahoo.com if you want a more extensive reading list.
|