Battle Cry of Freedom is simply the best general history of the American Civil War. In addition to being an excellent military history, it places the war in its political, social, diplomatic and economic context. Far from being dry, the big picture context actually makes for the most interesting reading. The work gives the reader a satisfying sense of having a better understanding of the whys and hows of this terrible conflict, not just the who, when, and where. It is also more balanced between Northern and Southern viewpoint than most other works of this nature.

I have read scores of books on the Civil War and am often asked by friends which one book is the best place to start. My answer is always and emphatically: Battle Cry of Freedom. ( )

It would not do to argue with the Pulitzer Prize committee. This is a superb work. I am a Canadian, and do not have an internalized sense of the Civil War. This book with remarkable brevity and clarity gave me a good sense of what the war was about, how it was waged, and why it went the way it did. McPherson can write, he seems pretty fair - not with too north or south a bias - and he left me with the best bibliography I'll ever get of the Civil War. A must read. ( )

This book was so comprehensive it's hard to know where to begin. This book covers quite comprehensively the American Civil War from the events of the “pending crisis” –especially during the presidency of James Buchanan—through the war itself to the ending of the war and a discussion of how the war changed the way our government functioned, changed the economy of our country and the economic balance of the North and South. The ramifications of this conflict are still felt in our society today.

I enjoyed the comprehensiveness of it, especially showing how the military aspects, including the battles, related to the political aspects of the war and how the "fortunes" of the war affected each side in turn. I think McPherson's narrative style made this book very accessible to those seriously interested in the Civil War without feeling like it was at all "dumbed down" to appeal to the casual reader. I read this book to get an overview of the Civil War to prepare me for my 999 category. I have a feeling as I read in depth about more limited aspects of the war I will be looking back to see what McPherson had to say about the event! This book will definitely help me in my further reading about the Civil War.

Here’s one of my favorite passages:

At the end of the war General John B. Gordon, at this time commander of Stonewall Jackson's old corps, surrenders to General Joshua L. Chamberlain:

"As Gordon approached …with 'his chin drooped to his breast, downhearted and dejected in appearance,' Chamberlain gave a brief order, and a bugle call rang out. Instantly the Union soldiers shifted from order arms to carry arms, the salute of honor. Hearing the sound General Gordon looked up in surprise, and with sudden realization turned smartly to Chamberlain, dipped his sword in salute, and ordered his own men to carry arms. These enemies in many a bloody battle ended the war not with shame on one side and exultation on the other but with a soldier's 'mutual salutation and farewell.'"

After 800 pages of war, hatred, political shenanigans, inept commanders, bloodshed, and seeing often worse side of humanity with only a few redeeming episodes, what an inspiring and gracious way to handle victory and defeat when a "family" has been fighting. ( )

There are certainly more detailed histories of the Civil War out there—looking at the 2946 pages of Shelby Foote's work I have sitting on my shelf makes that clear. However, it's hard to imagine something approximating this scope that does a better job of explaining the Civil War than McPherson's Pulitzer Prize-winning book.

Starting in 1847 with the Mexican War, and ending with 1865, the book cycles between political, social, economic and military aspects of these years. Setting the war against the socio-economic backdrop explains not only the war, itself, but gives the reader insight into many of the aspects of what our country has become. This book allows the reader to see quite clearly the premise that the United States of today owes more to the Civil War than it does to the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers. In fact, in his Epilogue, McPherson argues that the South (despite being a slave-owning society) was a better representation of the social order of our European roots, and that the Civil War changed America's future to the less mainstream, Northern vision of society.

McPherson brings the major players of the time to life for the reader. Of course, the result of this was often a feeling of incredulity at how much insubordination, incompetence, timidity and plain old-fashioned back-biting went on in both armies and governments. There were many times in the book where the reader cannot help but wonder if a more decisive general couldn't have ended the war sooner. Though, this may or may not have been a positive thing: had the South not been so completely beaten, then the Northern determination to alter the Southern way of life, by force if necessary, may not have had time to become so fixed in the minds of Lincoln, Republicans and the population who gave them a mandate, and the conflict might have erupted anew later on.

McPherson's easy writing style, seldom dry or pedantic, occasionally humorous, makes this book extremely readable. Though it is long and chock full of content, it never felt slow or dense.

Highly recommended. ( )

This book is part of the Oxford History of the United States series. I have seen it called the best one volume history of the Civil War and it lives up to that reputation. James McPherson also lives up to his reputation as one of the finest contemporary authors on the Civil War.
What makes this book exceptional is that it is about the Civil War era, not just about the Civil War. The author displays a comprehensive knowledge of the material in an excellent narration of the events of the era that is thorough and skillfully written. While the book is touted as a book about the Civil War the war starts on page 273 of 862 pages of text.
The book begins with Winfield Scott's entry into Mexico City which marked the end of the fighting in the Mexican War in 1847. The results of the Mexican War accelerated the sectional conflict in America that culminated in the Civil War. The growth of the Southern economy that gave rise to slave power as a potent force in American politics was the prime factor in the growth of the sectional conflict. As much as the Southerners portrayed themselves as underdogs in the years of the 1850's they exercised political power in greater proportion than their numbers. It was the politicians from the South who consistently made the greatest demands during this period. Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan, the presidents of the 1850's all favored the South.
Popular sovereignty, the Dred Scott decision and Bleeding Kansas were all examples of slave power. The United States postmasters under the democratic presidents refused to deliver abolitionists tracts mailed into the South because of Southern protests of attacks on their peculiar institution. As the Whig party was driven apart by the issue of slavery the Republicans were formed as the party that opposed the slave power.
Two events mobilized the popular feeling on each side. John Brown, who was first known as Osawatomie Brown for his cold blooded murder of Southern sympathizers in Kansas, led a raid that took over the armory at Harper's Ferry in 1859. His ill-conceived plan to start a slave rebellion backed by the conspiracy of rich northerners known as "The Secret Six" convinced Southerners that the North was bent on their destruction. In the North Brown was lionized as a hero. The book Uncle Tom's Cabin was a national bestseller that raised popular feeling in the North against slavery and struck a raw nerve in the South. It is said that when Lincoln was later introduced to Harriet Beecher Stowe he said "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war." The animosity between North and South became too great to be contained by the political institutions.
In 1860 the Democratic party split at the Charleston convention and the Republicans nominated Lincoln in the Wigwam at Chicago.
With the split of the democrats Lincoln was elected without carrying any Southern state and immediately South Carolina seceded from the Union. They had waited for cooperative action at the Nashville Convention in 1850 and would not wait this time. By February 1, 1861 six more states had seceded and Jefferson Davis was named Provisional President of the Confederacy in Mongomery, Alabama on February 16, 1861.
The lame duck congress in Washington was still trying to reach a compromise but the politicians of the North would not accede to the Southern demands. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861 and Fort Sumter fired upon April 12. The Civil War had begun. When Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers four more states seceded and the battle lines were drawn.
McPherson covers the military action in the war but also covers many other aspects of the conflict. Examples of the topics discussed include Confederate diplomacy, the development of the minie ball and the beginning of modern nursing in the efforts of each side to care for vast numbers of casualties. The author provides interesting details of the methods each side used to finance the war.
The military side of the war began with the battle of amateurs at First Manassas. In April of 1862 the Battle of Shiloh gave a glimpse of what the war would be like as two opposing armies of 40,000 men produced a total of 23,000 casualties.
In September of 1862 Lee invaded the North and was defeated at the Battle of Antietam. With this victory in hand Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, to go into effect January 1, 1863. The Confederate efforts for the intervention of France and Britain on their behalf were doomed by their defeat at Antietam and Lincoln's announcement.
In the middle of 1863 came the two military events that mark the beginning of the end for the South. The fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, split the South along the Mississippi, and Lee was defeated at Gettysburg June 1-3, 1863. From that point the South lost the military initiative and their only hope was the election of 1864.
In the summer of 1864 the North was tired of war and Lincoln felt certain he would be defeated in the presidential election. On the military front Grant had Lee engaged in Virginia and Sherman was marching on Atlanta. Sherman announced the capture of Atlanta on September 1, 1864 and this revived the North. The author mentions the furloughs given to Union soldiers so that they could vote for Lincoln in critical states where they were not allowed absentee ballots. It is these types of details help to give a complete picture of this era in one volume.
Lincoln won the election easily and Grant and Sherman continued to crush the South militarily. Sherman's army burned their way through South Carolina, hated as the cradle of the confederacy, wreaking much greater destruction than the fabled march to the sea. Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 9, 1865 and the Civil War was over.
In a closing chapter McPherson argues that the defeat of the South was not inevitable. The author compares the Southern military effort to that of Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance. In that war Paraguay held off the combined forces of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay from 1865-1871. Paraguay lost 56 percent of its total population and 80 percent of its men of military age. In comparison the South lost 5 percent of its total population and 25 percent of the men of military age were casualties. The importance of states rights in the Confederacy also hindered an efficient mobilization of resources for the war.
The author closes with some interesting thoughts on how the Northern victory changed the course of the country. The Civil War was a Second Revolution in the United States. The South had provided much of the leadership in the Revolution and for 32 years after the ratification of the Constitution the country was led by presidents from the South. After the Northern victory it was a century before a resident of the South was elected president. The United States changed from a federal republic to a national union whose government became increasingly centralized. No longer dominated by agriculture the United States became the largest industrial economy in the world by 1900.
I give the author high marks for this book. It is well written and an excellent narrative. There is a good balance of social and military history that provides a complete picture of what occurred during this time. After reading this book the reader is well equipped to follow any particular areas of interest in greater detail. If the reader wishes to stop here they have a solid understanding of what is arguably the most important era in the history of the United States. ( )