Gettysburg Civil War Institute Books – Serie

BL The first direct comparison of America's participation in its two most significant wars - the Civil War and World War IIA group of prominent historians provide an illuminating comparison of the two wars in a number of central areas.

In LINCOLN, THE WAR PRESIDENT, no fewer than five Pulitzer Prize-winning historians - James McPherson, Carl Degler, Arthur Schlesinger Jr, David Brion Davis, and Robert Bruce - join eminent historian Kenneth Stampp and editor Gabor Boritt to offer a fresh look at how Lincoln confronted the central issues of the Civil War era, throwing sharp new light on the revolutionary changes he helped usher in. Kenneth Stampp explores the issue of self-determination, illuminating Lincoln's views and comparing the South's struggle for independence to others in history (including the post-Soviet situation in Eastern Europe). Arthur Schlesinger Jr, offers a provocative comparison of how Lincoln and our other outstanding war president, FDR, went beyond the limits of the Constitution in defence of the nation and freedom - as they understood them. David Brion Davis focuses on both the exhilarating moment of emancipation and its disappointing results. Gabor Boritt traces Lincoln's transition from strident opponent of the Mexican War, to resolute war leader, ("Destroy the rebel army," were his terse orders) to speaking out for reconciliation (after Appomattox he exclaimed, "Enemies, never again must we repeat that word"). Carl Degler compares the Civil War as a successful attempt at true national unification with the unifications of Italy, Germany, and even Switzerland (which waged a fraternal war not many years earlier). Robert Bruce provides an incisive look at the premonitions of civil war that haunted the American republic since independence, including Lincoln's reluctance to accept war as a possibility. And James McPherson establishes once and for all Lincoln's brilliance as a national strategist. Historians have often criticized specific military decisions Lincoln made, McPherson writes, ignoring his grasp of an overall national strategy that calculated political, economic, and military needs together.These outstanding essays - all but one published here for the first tiem - offer a new understanding of a revolutionary epoch in American history, and of the role of the leader who helped transform the nation forever.

In the early morning of April 12, 1861, Captain George S. James ordered the bombardment of Fort Sumter, beginning a war that would last four horrific years and claim a staggering number of lives. Since that fateful day, the debate over the causes of the American Civil War has never ceased. What events were instrumental in bringing it about? How did individuals and institutions function? What did Northerners and Southerners believe in the decades of strife preceding the war? What steps did they take to avoid war? Indeed, was the great armed conflict avoidable at all?Why the Civil War Came brings a talented chorus of voices together to recapture the feel of a very different time and place, helping the reader to grasp more fully the commencement of America's bloodiest war. From William W. Freehling's discussion of the peculiarities of North American slavery to Charles Royster's disturbing piece on the combatants' savage readiness to fight, the contributors bring to life the climate of a country on the brink of disaster. Mark Summers, for instance, depicts the tragically jubilant first weeks of Northern recruitment, when Americans on both sides were as yet unaware of the hellish slaughter that awaited them. Glenna Matthews underscores the important war-catalysing role played by extraordinary public women, who proved that neither side of the Mason-Dixon line was as patriarchal as is thought. David Blight reveals an African-American world that "knew what time it was," and welcomed war. And Gabor Boritt examines the struggle's central figure, Lincoln himself, illuminating in the years leading up to the war a blindness on the future president's part, an unwillingness to confront the looming calamity that was about to smash the nation asunder.William E. Gienapp notes perhaps the most unsettling fact about the Civil War: that democratic institutions could not resolve the slavery issue without resorting to violence on an epic scale. With gripping detail, Why the Civil War Came takes readers back to a country fraught with bitterness, confusion, and hatred - a country ripe for a war of unprecedented bloodshed - to show why democracy failed, and violence reigned.

Confederate General P.G.T.Beauregard once wrote that "no people ever warred for independence with more relative advantages than the Confederates." If there was any doubt as to what Beauregard sought to imply, he later to chose to spell it out: the failure of the Confederacy lay with the Confederate president Jefferson Davis. In Jefferson Davis's Generals, a team of America's most distinguished Civil War historians present fascinating examinations of the men who led the South through the nation's bloodiest conflict, focusing in particular on Jefferson Davis's relationships with five key generals who held independent commands: Joseph E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, and John Bell Hood. Craig Symonds examines the underlying implications of a withering trust between Johnston and his friend Jefferson Davis. And was there really harmony between Davis and Robert E. Lee? A tenuous harmony at best, according to Emory Thomas. Michael Parrish explores how Beauregard and Davis worked through a deep and mutual loathing, while Steven E. Woodworth and Herman Hattaway make contrasting evaluations of the competence of Generals Braxton Bragg and John Bell Hood. Taking a different angle on Davis's ill-fated commanders, Lesley Gordon probes the private side of war through the roles of the generals' wives, and Harold Holzer investigates public perceptions of the Confederate leadership through printed images created by artists of the day. Pulitzer Prize-winner James M. McPherson's final chapter ties the individual essays together and offers a new perspective on Confederate strategy as a whole.Jefferson Davis's Generals provides stimulating new insights into one of the most vociferously debated topics in Civil War history.

On the first three days of July in 1863, more than 160,000 Union and Rebel soldiers fought a monumental battle in Gettysburg, a bloody contest that has been hailed as "the turning point of the Civil War". It is without a doubt the best known engagement of the war and may in fact be the best known battle in American military history. It is certainly the most studied battle Americans have ever fought in. And yet, for all its prominence, this singular moment in our history still stirs heated debate. Did Jeb Stuart's absence leave General Lee blind? Should Ewell have attacked Cemetery Hill? Was Joshua Chamberlain really the hero of Little Round Top? How close did the Confederates come to winning at Gettysburg? And if the Confederates had won, how would history have been different? Now, Gabor Boritt has invited nine leading authorities to shed new light on the greatest battle in our history. The Gettysburg Nobody Knows offers a marvellous reconsideration of this epic event. It will be must reading for the legions of Civil War buffs around the country and for everyone interested in American history.