Reviews for Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War

The average rating for Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-11-07 00:00:00 Jose luis Lopez martin James McPherson is one of the leading experts on the Civil War. One of his major works, "Battle Cry of Freedom," is a wonderful source on the many aspects of the Civil War, some of which are not so often considered by other historians. His examination of the common soldiers' letters is eye opening as to what the troops were thinking, what motivated them, and so on. This is an edited volume, composed largely of essays published over time. The author revised these to make the volume more coherent and have the essays "fit together" better. He notes that he is writing for three audiences simultaneously (always something of a danger): professional historians, Civil War buffs, and the general reader. In my judgment, he succeeds much better than one might have guessed. The book is divided into several parts. Part I explores the origins of the Civil War (including the impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"). Part II considers the war and American society (including the evolution of the Civil War from a limited to a total war and the roles of race and class with respect to the war). Part III considers why the north won (and why the south lost). Part IV considers Abraham Lincoln's place in the war and in American history. Finally, Chapter 15 (the only chapter in Part V) looks at the various audiences that McPherson is writing for, with the provocative questions serving as the chapter title: "What's the matter with history?" A bit more detail on some chapters illustrates his work. Chapter 7 is "The 'Glory' Story," looking at the movie on the 54th Massachusetts, an African-American regiment formed in Boston and the environs. The chapter, first, notes that the movie did pretty well in terms of historical accuracy and captured a mood. He also notes the errors, from minor to more major. On a minor side, the attack against Fort Wagner by the 54th is in the wrong direction--but that was because it was filmed on a location where they could not quite get that right. On the more significant side, most of the troops were not former slaves, as suggested by the movie. Chapter 9 is entitled "How the Confederacy almost won." Interesting reflections here. McPherson notes that the Union A team of commanders--Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas--fought against the Confederate B team, such as Braxton Bragg and John Bell Hood, in the west and simply, outclassed them. In the east, Lee outclassed the Union B team, such as McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker. Once some of the Union A team came east, the Confederates lost their main advantage. This is an enjoyable book, which speaks nicely to multiple audiences. If you are a Civil war aficionado, this book should interest you.

Review # 2 was written on 2007-12-28 00:00:00 Mark Davis Most of these are book reviews written in the 80s and 90s, so the theme ends up being how this towering genius is cool enough to think through trendy notions (Lee wasn't that great, the draft riots were about race not class; battles didn't have much to do with the North winning; Lincoln didn't free the slaves, they freed themselves) and some classic ones (the South was exceptional, Uncle Tom's Cabin is worthless), showing where they sorta have a point, and where they pretty much don't, and finally gently dropping definitive Hammer-of-Thor wisdom without seeming like a suspender snapping jerk yelling SOLVED in a burning building. The last longish essay goes at this theme head one, explaining the tension between synthesis history (social, economic) vs. narrative (great men, big battles), and describing his attempts to he find a middle ground in his narrative-with-social-stuff-thrown-in classic Battle Cry of Freedom (which I read half of one time, five stars)