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Loading... Shiloh--In Hell before Night (1977)by James L. McDonough
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is a rather pedestrian telling of one of the most important battles of the U.S. Civil War. It does use written accounts of the participants and the maps are extensive but it never really quite captures the horror. The background is good. The impact is fairly well outlined. Still, we never quite get into the heads of Grant, Sherman, Beauregard, or other significant leaders. That Grant and Sherman made serious errors is unquestionable. Nevertheless, it was early in the war and they both seemed to have learned lessons. Southern leadership, on the other hand, seems to present itself as if it ought to win. It is true that generalship means willing to spill blood but it has to be for a purpose. The waste of human life is very obvious in this battle, more by the South than the North since the South was the impelling force, at least on the first day.To see Shiloh Church today is to see a most tranquil setting which is probably how it looked before the battle. ( ) no reviews | add a review
"If you want to know what it was like to be caught up in a confused Civil War battle complete with a 100,000-man cast, inept generals, missed opportunities, and grim humor amid suffering and death, here is your chance. McDonough has done a fine job of research which, for all that, recaptures the agony of Shiloh ("A place of peace") in twelve highly readable chapters ... The author's special skill, however, is his use of revealing, perceptive quotes from the mouths of the participants so as to make this controversial slaughter come alive over a century later."--The Virginia Quarterly Review. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)973.732History and Geography North America United States Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 Civil War Operations Campaign of 1862LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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