Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War by James M. McPherson ISBN: 0-19-512499-5 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: November, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.52 (23 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Agenda History
Comment: I must admit that my excitement over the title of this book was extinguished very quickly as I got into the content. The author may have researched thousands of letters from Civil War soldiers, but, he seemed to be selective in what he chose to use, as his agenda seemed to be to make a few personal points. It appears that this author wants history to portray the northern soldier as being motivated by an end to slavery as his reason for fighting (patently false), and, southerners as fighting to preserve the "peculiar institution". The excerpts he carefully chose from era letters were seemingly carefully selected to further those ends. He doesn't seem to understand that the concept of "country" in the U.S. in 1860 was very ill defined and not of much interest to most Americans, who, mainly agrarian, were trying to just get by. At best, a man was interested in his state, and, more often than not, what was going on in his own county. There were no strong ties to the idea of being a United States of America at that time. A man from Ohio was, indeed, as foreign to a man from Alabama as one from France would have been. 99% of confederate soldiers were small dirt farmers and owning a slave to them would have been as common as owning a second home on the beach is today. The civil war to the common southern soldier was a simple matter of being invaded by a foreign power, and, fighting for a beloved homeland. It was just that simple. The draft riots and lynchings of blacks in the north are solid testimony to the unpopularity of going south to fight. One of Lincoln's great fears was that McClellan would turn the army of the Potomac against him, throw him out of office, and, end the war. Only Lincoln had the amazing forsight and tenacity to pursue this grisly 4 year task to insure that his vision, Union, would survive. Neither was Lincoln that concerned about slavery as an issue over which the war was fought. His failure to extend freedom to blacks in certain politically sensitive border states, and, the caveat that the Emancipation did not pertain to southern states that laid down their arms and returned to the Union is strong evidence of the minor concern that he had for the issue of slavery as it applied to the broader issue of union preservation. No, the book did not do justice to it's ambitious title. Attempting to justify lofty philosophical ideals as the reason that men fight, the author fails to do what the cover promises, which is point out that men fight, because, once a thing like war is in motion, it takes on a life of it's own, and, becomes very personal. You fight for the man with the rifle in the hole beside you. An author with this personal experience would know this and be better equipped to tackle a project that lives up to the expectations that the title of his book raised.
Rating: 5
Summary: Why did they fight?
Comment: Another in a distinguished line of treatises on the American Civil War from one of our preeminent historians on that subject. For Causes and Comrades proceeds from a simple questions: Why did they fight? Given the hardships to be endured, the terror of battle and the frightening rate of casualties and loss of life, why did they volunteer in the beginning and then continue to fight, once the war started, despite the misfortunes heaped upon them? Armies on this scale could not have been forced to continue if the individuals (volunteers for the most part, not professionals or conscripts in the beginning) were not committed for some deep-rooted reason. Conducting exhaustive primary research (literally tens of thousands of soldiers' letters to home, from museums, libraries and private collections) McPherson develops the premise that soldiers of both sides of the ACW fought for more than the "usual" reasons (i.e. camaraderie, employment, adventure, fear of being "left behind"). The average soldier in the ACW was indeed aware of the issues at stake and felt strongly that military service proceeded from a sense of duty and honor to family and country. The sense that there are ideals beyond love of life in this world propelled them on. This is a book for students of human nature as well as students of the ACW. Psychological analyses are provided as well, drawing on studies performed after WW I, WW II and Vietnam. McPherson will convince you that we cannot use a 1990s yardstick to measure the hearts and minds of soldiers of the ACW. You will have to decide for yourself whether you believe McPherson's arguments. As for myself, after studying the ACW in general and specific campaigns and battles in depth, there is no doubt in my mind that McPherson is correct. Would modern man be willing to offer up such a "last full measure of devotion"? Again, I agree with McPherson - let's leave that question unanswered and just hope we never find out.
Rating: 5
Summary: What motivated the Civil War soldier?
Comment: This book is a very refreshing twist on Civil War history. In this work, as well as in his book What They Fought For, noted Civil War historian James McPherson explores what exactly motivated men to fight in the war. Having done exhaustive research to the tune of diaries and letters from nearly 1,000 soldiers, most of them obscure and average men, McPherson is aptly qualified to perform this work. He looks at several factors, from group unity to sense of honor to desire for vengeance, in an attempt to understand the average Civil War soldier, and ultimately makes a strong case for the idea that Civil War soldiers were idealistic men who were not ignorant of the issues at stake and who were motivated by an extraordinary desire to fight for their beliefs. This, McPherson argues, sets them apart from soldiers in other wars.
As is always the case with McPherson, this book is very well written and enjoyable to read. Most of this book is composed of quotes from various soldiers with McPherson's interpretation and narrative interjected only often enough to keep the discussion flowing. He does a wonderful job of integrating the quotes and making them fit perfectly into what he's trying to say. McPherson's use of quotations from the men who were actually there is infinitely more effective in proving his point than anything he could say himself, and this is what makes this book so great. There are hundreds of books out there that will tell you WHAT happened, but this book is one of only a few that will try and explain WHY and HOW things happened.
 |
Title: A Short History of Reconstruction by Eric Foner ISBN: 0060964316 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 10 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: What They Fought For 1861-1865 by James M. McPherson ISBN: 0385476345 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 March, 1995 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
 |
Title: Mothers of Invention : Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust ISBN: 0679781048 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 30 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: The Confederate War by Gary W. Gallagher ISBN: 0674160568 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (OXFORD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES) by James M. McPherson ISBN: 019516895X Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
