Reviews for The Civil War

The average rating for The Civil War based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-09-02 00:00:00 Sam Tai I started this book back late last summer and been with it so long I don't even have any good initial reaction insights left. Background: It's the story of a well-respected, wealthy, religious, compassionate, erudite, white supremacist, plantation family through the course of the civil war. The entire book consists of the letters they wrote to each other. Two cents: This is one of those books you internalize and never forget. It is one of the most insightful books on civil war times and one of the most unique books in the history of the human race. That's not hyperbole. I honestly doubt there is another collection of letters this extensive, written and preserved during one of the epic periods of human history, anywhere else in the world. The book starts in the heyday of the antebellum south. The family has several plantations, they are prosperous, the father is a respected elder in the Presbyterian church, and the sons are away in the north at Harvard law school and Penn Medical school. By the end of the book their plantations are razed, the family fortune is on its last legs and all the family is dispersed, consistent with the post war diaspora. You pass first hand through their marriages, their tragedies, the experience of their first born children, their careers, the death of loved ones, their military service, their racism and pride. Fiction could never do as much as this book-one person's imagination is only so expansive. History books can never do as much, writing from hindsight. Parts of their world are like our own, others radically different. Recently I find myself comparing it against life in internet times which only underscores how much the internet makes life feel like an abstraction, passing by as a movie. Final thought: Even the mini-biographies at the end of the book touched me deeply. The book is one of the best lessons in life I've ever read.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-09-30 00:00:00 Erich Lohde I read the unabridged version, which my local used book store was able to find for me. I am so glad to have discovered this series. Can't believe I didn't know about it all these years, since it won so many awards when it was first published. This true story of the Jones family in pre-Civil War years, war time, and the postwar era is totally absorbing. Now that I have family members living in the Savannah area, it has more meaning than if I had read it earlier. Each person in the Jones family has his or her own voice, even through the letter format, and it is surprising how contemporary they often sound. Their good intentions are quite apparent, so it is even more shocking how callous they can sound about their slaves. Though they are concerned about souls, in the end it is all about business. I must also give great credit to the editor, Dr. Myers, for his monumental work in shaping this collection.