Civil War (original 1960; edition 1986)

Bruce Catton is a defnintive and prolific authority on the Civil War. This particular volume is shorter than most, but still gives an excellent overview. This book contains an extensive collection of photgraphs. ( )

An excellent one volume source for the events, reasons, and outcome of a crucial piece of American History. ( )

Written in 1960, Bruce Cattons [i]The Civil War[/i] is somewhat dated by now, but I picked it up from a used book store on the cheap. Noting its age is not to say it wasn't a good read, but for those who've read a reasonable amount of books on the civil war will attest to some problems with the text - Catton uses antiquated terms for African-American troops for example, referring to them as negros and generally conducting his analysis without the benefit of writing after the Civil Rights era.

Overall though this is a brief, but nice account of the war with some small but nice chapters that take themselves out of the narrative to talk about the tactics, weapons, and the two governments in Washington and Richmond. Otherwise its a standard, brief, account of the war lacking in many of the details one might find in say - McPhersons [i]The Battlecry of Freedom[/i]. What I found most likeable about the book was Catton's writing skills, he's a great writer but his skills, coming from the early to mid-twentieth century may turn off some nowadays. Still I did like it.

**** out of ***** ( )