Most Succinctly Bred Book

I planned to write a review but how do you review a classic? I mean really.

The book is the biography of Thomas [Stonewall] Jackson. I wanted to read something about the man where his campaigns and battles were not the main focus. I wanted to know what made the man tic so-to-speak and even though I've read plenty on the Civil War I had not read a biography of one of major characters in the conflict.

So, having visited Lexington, VA and Jackson's home just prior to the Civil War I decided to buy Vandiver's classic. I was not disappointed.

So what stood out? What stood out was that Jackson was a Christian gentleman. He loved his wife and and he loved his country. He loved Jesus. He loved being an officer in the United States Army and the Confederate Army. He loved being a professor at VMI. He loved a challenge and had an extraordinary ability to exercise a discipline to accomplish whatever he set his mind to accomplish.

But Jackson was also a warrior, a stern disciplinarian that lived by the rules. He was as tough on his soldiers as he was on himself.The troops he commanded grew to love him, because he was a winner but also because he did his best to feed and clothe the ragged scarecrows that were his Confederate soldiers.

Jackson could also be petty as shown with his conflict A.P. Hill. (Hill could also be petty.) It seemed that pettiness was a characteristic of many a Civil War General.

Jackson's unwavering Calvinistic faith permeates his life just as it permeated his correspondence. And for whatever faults he had (the pettiness and pride associated with it to name one) his faith was real. He could talk theology with the lowliest private or most learned clergyman. Jackson knew his Bible.

By the time I reached the end I felt I kind of knew the man and frankly his death and the way he handled it touched me. Vandiver accomplished what a biographer should want to accomplish and that's coming away with the feeling that you've been an insider to the person you've just read about.

It's a hefty volume with more than 400 pages but every one of those pages is interesting.