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: With My Face to the Enemy: Perspectives on the Civil War by David Herbert Donald, Robert Cowley, Stephen W. Sears, James M. McPherson ISBN: 0-399-14737-3 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 31 May, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.83 (6 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A uneven potpourri
Comment: It's pretty much common sense that Anthologies are a real mixed bag but With My Face to the Enemy is more than the average. This compilation has some wonderful stuff and to be honest one or two that I'm surprised got past the editor considering the factual errors they have.
On the good side you have some really first rate pieces. Stephen Sears comes through with some great stuff as usual with 'The Last Word on the Lost Order', 'The Ordeal of General Stone' and 'Malvern Hill'. However these works can be found in his book "Controversies and Commanders" or his book on the Peninsula Campaign.
Still there are other less well known writers in addition to the well known ones like Sears, Gallagher and McPherson, to make this worth picking up. Robert Jones' Rebel Without a War sticks out as exceptional as does John Taylor's 'The Crater' and two different articles that cover Col William Oates and Col Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain 'The Antagonists of Little Round Top'.
On the bad side a few of the article lean a bit towards the dry side and some factual errors, especially in Tom Flemming's 'Band of Brothers'. The article makes a number of factual errors such as stating that General Richard Garnett rode in Pickett's Charge because he was to sick with fever to walk. The commonly known truth however is that Garnett had been kicked by a horse and his leg was still very sore for him to walk. Flemming also repeats the old fable that Grant sent an engraved silver serving set across the battle lines at Petersburg to George and Sally Pickett as a present when their son was born. However this story is widely known to be a fictional creation of Sally Pickett's after the war.
So in the end there's just enough first rate material to make the book worth it.
Rating: 4
Summary: Various perspectives.
Comment: This book carries a similar format to books that look at the "hows" and "whys" of a battle, but instead follows popular events in the Civil War. Featuring and all-star cast of writers such as Gallagher and Sears, the book covers a variety of topics concerning subjects like Lee, Jackson, Grant, Vicksburg, Forrest at Fort Pillow, Union prisons, Sherman, Sheridan and many others. I have to admit the lack of references was disappointing as at times writer opinion versus fact were questionable. A majority of the chapters did offer interesting insight and tried to look at either popular misconceptions or myths surrounding the subjects. There is over 500 pages of material here that offer the advanced student of the Civil War possible new insight to events. I couldn't recommend this book to novice readers as a majority of the topics seem to be written in the assumption of past reader knowledge.
Rating: 4
Summary: Fine, but flawed, collection
Comment: I am greatly torn over whether to give With My Face to the Enemy three or four stars. Four stars ultimately prevails because it seems to me that just about any book about the Civil War is almost by definition worth reading, and there is much in With My Face to the Enemy that will please both Civil War aficionados and those with but a passing interest. Of particular moment are two articles about the Confederate pirate ships (and let's be honest, they *were* pirate ships sans the physical violence) Alabama and Shenandoah, which reveal the genuinely global reach of the conflict. Every article has something to recommend it, even if, like Stephen Sears' essay on Chancellorsville, you've read it all before.
But there are some flaws, too. Most glaring and annoying is the lack of an index. Is there any Civil War student who does not rush to the index first to find references to his (or her) favorite general or battle? No such luck here; you'll have to read the entire book for those brief references to Howard, Hancock, McPherson, et al. Second, the articles lack two of the major selling points of military history magazines - color maps and illustrations. Now, I'm a big boy and I don't *need* pictures with my text, but often the art that accompanies an MHQ article is more powerful than the text. Third, there is a fault that lies with far too many Civil War pieces: biographies of important figures devolving into hagiographies. For too many Civil War biographers their subject can do, and did no, wrong. Crowley himself uses the word "hagiography" in one of his introductions. Whether it's Stonewall or Lee, or Admiral Porter or Sheridan, the lavish praise becomes tiring. And the final gripe to be made is toward Crowley's introductions, which borrow too liberally from the essays, adding nothing yet stealing the thunder of the contributors. (The same complaint can be made of Crowley's introductions to the What If? series.)
These are not much more than petty gripes, however. The Civil War remains a fascinating topic, and With My Face to the Enemy provides a wide range of essays covering many areas of the war. The collection deserves a spot on the bookshelf.
 |
Title: Hallowed Ground : A Walk at Gettysburg by JAMES M. MCPHERSON ISBN: 0609610236 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 13 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam (Pivotal Moments in American History) by James M. McPherson ISBN: 0195135210 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
 |
Title: We Are Lincoln Men : Abraham Lincoln and His Friends by David Herbert Donald ISBN: 0743254686 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: LINCOLN by David Herbert Donald ISBN: 068482535X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 05 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
 |
Title: To The Gates of Richmond : The Peninsula Campaign by Stephen W. Sears ISBN: 0618127135 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
