Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.
It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers.
The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.
This is Immaculee’s first book.
A stunning literary and historical achievement, the three volumes of Shelby Foote's THE CIVIL WAR vividly bring to life the four years of torment and strife that altered American life forever. Presented in a handsome boxed set, these three beautifully bound hardcovers are an essential addition to every American history collection.
Taking the reader from the drama of Jefferson Davis's resignation from the United States Senate and Abraham Lincoln's arrival in the nation's capital to Davis's final flight and capture and Lincoln's tragic death, Foote covers his subject with astonishing depth and scope. Every battle, every general, and every statesman has its place in this monumental narrative, told in lively prose that captures the sights, smells, and sounds of the conflict. Never before have the great battles and personalities of the Civil War been so excitingly presented, and never before has the story been told so completely.
With a novelist's gift for narrative and a historian's commitment to research, Shelby Foote's epic retelling is the definitive account of the Civil War, a trilogy that has earned a place of honor on the bookshelves of all Americans.
I just received the set and am very impressed with the quality of the hardbound set. It was a great buy through Amazon (around $41). I was a little startled when I saw the list price of over 100 dollars, but after seeing the set, I can understand the pricing.
Can't wait to sink my teeth into the series.
An amazing literary achievement.......2007-09-05
Shelby Foote has managed to do what most fail to do with a History Book. He brings the Civil War to life and gives the characters presence and energy. Superbly written and wonderful to read.
For me as an Englishman living in the Southern States, I am now beginning to have an understanding of the real politics and social background to the Civil War.
And What it felt like to be a Confederate!
A Civil War Narrative.......2007-08-29
I bought these books for my husband and he cannot put them down. He absolutely loves them.
Epic.......2007-08-29
Shelby Foote's three volume set is many things: grand, comprehensive, witty and sad. These books capture the civil war, the U.S. in the 1860's and the beauty and blemishes of humanity. After purchasing the complete set, I'm out of pocket $40, but my debt to Foote is far greater.
The Civil War: A Narrative.......2007-08-23
Shelby Foote has set the standard for all books on the Civil War. I believe that anyone who has an interest in the United States and who we are should read these volumes. The writing is very good and the characters so well drawn, from national figures to 'people on the street',
that my interest was peaked from the first paragraph. This edition is affordable which makes it even better. I would give 10 stars if possible.
Amazon.com
"I wonder what is the appropriate first action when you come from a country at war and set foot on peaceful soil. Mine was to rush to the tobacco-kiosk and buy as many cigars and cigarettes as I could stuff into my pockets." Most war correspondents observe wars and then tell stories about the battles, the soldiers and the civilians. George Orwell--novelist, journalist, sometime socialist--actually traded his press pass for a uniform and fought against Franco's Fascists in the Spanish Civil War during 1936 and 1937. He put his politics and his formidable conscience to the toughest tests during those days in the trenches in the Catalan section of Spain. Then, after nearly getting killed, he went back to England and wrote a gripping account of his experiences, as well as a complex analysis of the political machinations that led to the defeat of the socialist Republicans and the victory of the Fascists.
Book Description
In 1936 Orwell went to Spain to report on the Civil War and instead joined the fight against the Fascists. This famous account describes the war and Orwell’s experiences. Introduction by Lionel Trilling.
Customer Reviews:
Against the war... any kind of war........2007-08-13
Maybe the best plea against _any_ type of war. I recommend it strongly to everyone.
Unattractive topic made surprisingly interesting.......2007-07-18
George Orwell must be an excellent writer because, in all honesty, I wasn't overwhelmingly interested in reading about the Spanish Civil War. Nevertheless, I really, really liked this book.
Understanding the history behind the war isn't a necessity, but I definitely recommend bringing yourself up to speed via wikipedia before starting. That way, Orwell's personal recollections, which are the meat of the book, will be more relevant to you.
Orwell presents a refreshingly honest account of the war and his own evolving take on it. Spain's resulting chaos is a prescient warning for those who take too passionately and seriously partisan politics. Orwell shows that it never takes too long before ideals are thrown out the window to be replaced by the centuries repeated same old quest for power.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War, human nature's struggle for power, or Orwell's insightful, often humorous observations.
George Orwell's interesting memoir of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.......2007-05-23
"Homage to Catalonia" is a memoir of George Orwell's experiences during the Spanish Civil War. A committed socialist, Orwell was right in the thick of the action fighting on the side of the doomed Republic.
The book is at its best when it gives Orwell's first-hand account of life as a soldier, but is less compelling when he attempts to explain the complicated Republican politics, rivally, and in-fighting of the time.
Orwell's socialist politics also seem rather naive these days, given what has happened in the intervening 70 years.
Interesting for its personal insights, but read Anthony Beevor's great book for a comprehensive history of the Spanish Civil War.
Revolution & Politics: A Must-Read.......2007-02-19
George Orwell was one of the century's most honest, decent, and lucid writers about the human element in warfare and poltical revolution. His antitotalitarian novels "Animal Farm" and "1984," which made him famous, grew partly from his acute understanding of the events of World War II and partly from his personal experiences as a Loyalist volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, which is the subject of "Homage to Catalonia."
Orwell was a Marxist-Leninist in the 1930s, sufficiently committed to risk his own life in battle to help bring about a people's revolution in Spain. This memoir, written in 1937-38 while the war was still on, records how his idealism was battered by the cynical, pro-USSR politics he saw betray the Marxist ideal on the one hand, and the irreducible practicality of most ordinary people that makes it an impossible dream on the other. In the process, Orwell's contempt for the low standards of news-media accuracy only increased. Fans of Fox and CNN, take note.
By 1947 Orwell, the Marxist idealist, had become convinced that despite all their shortcomings and failures, the liberal Western democracies had developed the best form of political governance yet possible. Since the 1930s, one might observe, a leavening of socialist thought in these nations has brought about societies that are closer to Marx's egalitarian goals than the inflexible, authoritarian regimes that he directly inspired. The good intentions of "people's revolutions" are sure to be betrayed by the most ruthless leaders and factions they create. For every socioeconomic wrong they correct, such revolutions inevitably create many more of their own, totalitarian control and denial of due process being among the worst.
"Homage to Catalonia," written at the moment of Orwell's complete break with the Leninist variety of Marxism, is a model of fair-minded reporting. Anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War, the '30s, revolutionary politics, or even "For Whom the Bell Tolls," should read this book.
As somebody else mentioned, the fine recent movie "Land and Freedom" takes its inspiration from Orwell's book and ought to be watched in conjunction with it. Though fitted out with an imaginary love story, it is completely faithful to Orwell's spirit in "Homage to Catalonia."
Compulsively readable..........2007-02-16
As with most everything Orwell, this book will not have you leafing ahead impatiently to find out if and when things get good. If there is one book you read on the Spanish Civil War (and I bet it will be only one), this should be it.
Book Description
At once an informed overview for general-interest readers and a superb resource for serious buffs, this extraordinary, gloriously illustrated volume is sure to become one of the fundamental books in any Civil War library. Its features include a dramatic narrative packed with eyewitness accounts and hundreds of rare photographs, artifacts, and period illustrations. Evocative sidebars, detailed maps, and timelines add to the reference-ready quality of the text.
From John Brown's raid to Reconstruction, Eyewitness to the Civil War presents a clear, comprehensive discussion that addresses every military, political, and social aspect of this crucial period. In-depth descriptions of campaigns and battles in all theaters of war are accompanied by a thorough evaluation of the nonmilitary elements of the struggle between North and South. In their own words, commanders and common soldiers in both armies tell of life on the battlefield and behind the lines, while letters from wives, mothers, and sisters provide a portrait of the home front. More than 375 historical photographs, portraits, and artifacts—many never before published—evoke the era's flavor; and detailed maps of terrain and troop movements make it easy to follow the strategies and tactics of Union and Confederate generals as they fought through four harsh years of war. Photoessays on topics ranging from the everyday lives of soldiers to the dramatic escapades of the cavalry lend a breathtaking you-are-there feeling, and an inclusive appendix adds even more detail to what is already a magnificently meticulous history.
Customer Reviews:
A Wonderful Book.......2007-08-23
One of the best Civil War books I have seen in a long time. Full of pictures and interesting text. A bunch of pictures I have not seen before. A must for any collector of Civil War books.
Impressive New Overview.......2007-07-20
Eyewitness to the Civil War is a great new book published by the always authoritative and visually superb National Geographic. It is really a pleasure to read and study because it is well-formatted and just packed with interesting photographs, explanatory diagrams, and excellent maps. It reminds me of the magazine. My favourite parts are the inclusion of many firsthand accounts (from letters).
I have a bookshelf full of Civil War books, but I daresay this is probably the best single volume Civil War book I've seen, utilizing all of the resources of our latest knowledge and visual multi-media resources (like new and rare enhanced photos and actual correspondance).
If you are going to get just one Civil War book, I would recommend this one. It's also really a great bargain for such a nice, hefty coffee table book.
Worth It's Weight in Gold!.......2007-06-08
Wow, one hefty book! It sure is nice to see a decent sized book these days. I basically bought it just for the pictures, great quality with many not seen elsewhere, plus there were just so many good ones all in one place! The text isn't anything to sneeze at either. Any Civil War enthusiast would enjoy this book. Talk about value, Amazon usually has these used for less than $10! Quit reading this review, order one!
PERFECT IN EVERY WAY.......2007-01-22
MY HUSBAND LOVES HISTORY. HE HAD BEEN WANTING A BOOK ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR FOR A WHILE AND I DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE WHERE TO START. I HEARD OF AMAZON.COM BUT HAD NEVER USED IT. SO I TOOK THE CHANCE AND WAS VERY DELIGHTED ON THE EASE OF ORDERING. I GOT THE BOOK JUST IN TIME FOR HIS BIRTHDAY AND HE WAS SO SUPRISED. THATNK YOU FOR BEING WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE.
Civil War Experience!.......2007-01-09
GREAT gift for any Civil War buff. This has quality photos not contained in other Civil War books. As well as personal letters from diaries. Fabulous gift!
Amazon.com
In 1862, a prominent Republican visited President Lincoln and called General Ulysses S. Grant an incompetent drunk who created unnecessary political problems. Lincoln, frustrated with all his generals but this one, famously replied: "I can't spare this man; he fights." Indeed, Lincoln had gone through a series of unheroic generals before settling on Grant to lead the Union's Army of the Potomac. Grant's success at marshaling the industrial might of the North eventually pounded the South into submission. This memoir, finished as its author was dying of throat cancer in 1885, is widely admired for its clear and straightforward prose. The volume was an enormously popular hit upon publication (by Mark Twain, no less), and today Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant ranks among the finest pieces of military autobiography ever written.
Book Description
Grant was sick and broke when he began work on his Memoirs. Driven by financial worries and a desire to provide for his wife, he wrote diligently during a year of deteriorating health. He vowed he would finish the work before he died. One week after its completion, he lay dead at the age of 63.
Publication of the Memoirs came at a time when the public was being treated to a spate of wartime reminiscences, many of them defensive in nature, seeking to refight battles or attack old enemies. Grant's penetrating and stately work reveals a nobility of spirit and an innate grasp of the important fact, which he rarely displayed in private life. He writes in his preface that he took up the task "with a sincere desire to avoid doing injustice to anyone, whether on the National or the Confederate side."
Download Description
Among the autobiographies of great military figures, Ulysses S. Grant's is certainly one of the finest, and it is arguably the most notable literary achievement of any American president: a lucid, compelling, and brutally honest chronicle of triumph and failure. From his frontier boyhood to his heroics in battle to the grinding poverty from which the Civil War ironically "rescued" him, these memoirs are a mesmerizing, deeply moving account of a brilliant man, told with great courage as he reflects on the fortunes that shaped his life and his character. Written under excruciating circumstances (as Grant was dying of throat cancer), encouraged and edited from its very inception by Mark Twain, it is a triumph of the art of autobiography.
Customer Reviews:
Grant on Grant: The Most Impartial View of U.S. Grant.......2007-05-22
It is surprising that the most balanced and impartial view of U.S. Grant should be written by Grant himself. His style of writing is clear and sparse, recounting fact as fact and without lengthy editorializing. A must read for any civil war buff or serious historian.
Grant.......2006-07-09
I think this is the only real account you can get of the civil war. It's...Great!
Better appreciation of a great American.......2006-06-05
This book really provides incredible insight into Grant and what made him a great general. In a plainspoken & straightforward manner he gives a recount of his role in the war and his military philosophy (attack). Unlike a modern autobiography we get nothing personal or confessional (not necessarily a bad thing). Any mention of drinking, or his dismal presidency are omitted and his family gets only a paragraph or two; which is fine because no one is interested in Grant's parenting or presidenting tips.
the greatness within a seemingly unremarkable man.......2006-05-17
Although Grant doesn't blow his own horn, a close reading of his campaign accounts supports the "revisionist" view that far from being a butcher of men and Lee's inferior, Grant's victories (other than Shiloh) were tactical in nature, not brute force charges. (OK, there was Cold Harbor, but that was one mistake in a year-long campaign to destroy the South before the North lost its will to fight. Time was not on Grant's side.) Furthermore, Lee, Jackson, Johnson, et. al. always had the easier side of the equation, playing defense and disrupting the North's long lines of supply and communication.
This is also an interesting study on how an apparently unremarkable person find greatness within himself when he is in his element, and how a great general can fail as a president because the leadership roles are quite different.
There is a dry wit in much of Grant's writing which makes it a fun read even if you don't care for the details of his capture of Vicksburg and his eventual destruction of the South's Eastern armies. Grant does not shy away from describing the slogging nature of the war or his mastery of maneuver warfare.
A Class Act.......2006-01-15
I concur with the really good reader reviews above. I will add that what makes Grant's prose so engaging is that it is simple, unadorned, not self flattering, not pompous. It isn't pedantic, dull or uncertain either. In a word, it is Grant. It's probably the best way that you will get to know him. It is the portrait most often attempted by his supporters and the exact opposite of the portrait painted by his detractors. So, Grant presents himself and he is authentic.
You cannot help admiring Grant for his strengths and endearing qualities, his military accomplishments and his everyman characteristics. If you take his version together with what may be valid criticisms from those less admiring, then you get a pretty well rounded view of Grant. You won't find anything in his autobiography that conflicts with that totality.
Grant only covers his Civil War in this memoir, not his Presidency. He was in the last stages of a fatal throat cancer and trying to provide for his family. He had that clarity of a man writing to tell the truth about himself. No need to lie or hide. But that's also the reason that we don't hear about some of his grievances, disputes, recollections and characterizations of his contemporaries. We could have learned a lot from that but Grant is very forgiving and like a gentleman - he just won't tell.
Book Description
For the first time in the United States comes the tragic and profoundly important story of the legendary Canadian general who “watched as the devil took control of paradise on earth and fed on the blood of the people we were supposed to protect.” When Roméo Dallaire was called on to serve as force commander of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda, he believed that his assignment was to help two warring parties achieve the peace they both wanted. Instead, he was exposed to the most barbarous and chaotic display of civil war and genocide in the past decade, observing in just one hundred days the killings of more than eight hundred thousand Rwandans. With only a few troops, his own ingenuity and courage to direct his efforts, Dallaire rescued thousands, but his call for more support from the world body fell on deaf ears. In Shake Hands with the Devil, General Dallaire recreates the awful history the world community chose to ignore. He also chronicles his own progression from confident Cold Warrior to devastated UN commander, and finally to retired general struggling painfully, and publicly, to overcome posttraumatic stress disorder—the highest-ranking officer ever to share such experiences with readers.
Customer Reviews:
An important book that could have used a good editor........2007-07-16
I agree with some of the negative comments about this book. It's an important book, but a good editor should have pared away a fair amount of the "today I had a meeting with..." and other items from his daily journal. The book would have been stronger by eliminating all too many of his detailed daily journal items. He could have gotten the message across better without burying us in all the acronyms, as someone mentioned. If someone gave a speech to the general public, and used all of those acronyms, a fair number of listeners would tune out. Sorry, but it's true. Very glad that I read the book, though!
Excellent book, a MUST read for all.......2007-03-07
I had high expectations when I began reading this book due to the praise it had received. When you start with such high expectations, you normally end up being disappointed. That wasn't the case here, this book lived up to my expectations!
Dallaire's book is, I believe, the best account out there of the tragic events that unfolded in Rwanda in 1994. Due to his responsibilities, he was aware of most of what was happening in most places within Rwanda, and he was also aware of what was going on at the UN and at the security council. He's the one person who was in the best position to tell this story as it happened. He also did a fine job writing it, the book reads quite well.
The main lesson that seems to come out of this story is that all the people or organisations that could have made a difference were too self-interested to take risks for innocent people. The RPF (the Tutsi rebel army that eventually took over the country and ended the slaughter) took their time to advance since they tried to minimize their casualties, the Western countries in the security council didn't want to spend money or send soldiers, and the moderates in the Rwandan government watched silently in order to save their prestige or for their security. In the end, a handful of UN soldiers (none from the West besides Dallaire and a few Canadians) and brave and generous Rwandans were the only ones that tried to help, despite the odds that were against them.
This book does a great job at informing us and in drawing lessons from this horror. In essence, it's a great work.
if you expect stories, be prepated to be disappointed.......2007-02-21
This is a great book, a must read to balance the voice of the UN Sceptics out there. The UN Peacekeeping Missions are not all incompetent, the system is. Who is the system? It's the Security Council with their various Committees. When things go right, the Security Council gets the praises, when things go wrong, people like Roméo Dallaire gets the blames.
There are many things UN Sceptics out there do not know but love to criticize i.e. the UN does not have its own troops, the UN Peacekeeping Mission's Military and Civilian Personnel rarely has control of the strategic operations or budget of a mission; it is the UN Security Council who does. Another very important must know-point, before criticizing the quality of the troops in a UN Mission; please please first ask the question "Where are the troops from those `high quality' countries?" When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. When there's no political will to stop bad things from happening, the Rwandan genocide is what you get.
Roméo Dallaire wrote from first hand experience, for those who could not write out because of contractual obligation. Dallaire's account was a good picture of betrayal, naïveté, and international politics we all experience.
While Roméo Dallaire wrote briefly about the Mission 's Chief Administrative Officer who seemed indifferent to Dallaire's request for urgent requirement, he failed to understand another UN internal political undercurrent, nobody will stick their neck out, not then, not now .. because they get chopped.
Someone wrote that book has too many acronyms, people and jargons, too much frustrations .. well folks, welcome to the UN world. In-depth analysis? What's that? Never heard of. This book is REALITY. Period.
A log book, no consistent story flow, yes. An amazing book, yes.......2006-10-23
I have read the reviews of some others here below that this book didn't have a good story line and looked to much like a dairy of this former general.
I agree but that is what puts this book aside from the others. As I work at the UN I know the (basic) frustrations that the he is experienced in his fight and by giving us a cold, day to day, story of how things happened, he actually managed to capture the frustration and disapointment that he wants us to experience.
Most people say that it's a good review when they can not put a certain book down. For me this book was a completly different experience. I simply HAD to put it down, my frustration became to much.
I recommend this book to anyone, its a lesson in humanity. It might be frustrating, disgusting and everything in between, but it should be a mandatory reading for every human being.
Compelling.......2006-10-11
I just finished reading this book and found it both compelling and haunting. I couldn't put it down. If you are looking for a balcony analysis this is not for you but if on the other hand you want to know what it was like... no what it was really like, day to day, and step into the shoes of someone who was there then this is the book for you. Gen. Dallaire had access to and negotiated over and over again with the top leaders on both sides of the conflict and tells the story, the few triumphs and many failings of the groups in Rwanda, the member nations, and the UN itself, like no one else possibly could. My hats off to him for taking the time to tell this story, no doubt a painful one, in detail and for having given so much personally during that year of his life to save lives and minimize the deaths in Rwanda with the cards that were dealt him. Few, I believe would have persisted as long as he did trying to make a difference under similar conditions.
Customer Reviews:
Stone versus Chesnut.......2007-02-07
Like Mary Boykin Chesnut, Kate Stone wrote her diary during the Civil War. They were both members of the slaveholding planter class and at the start of the war both were surrounded by servants who met their every need. But twenty year old Kate Stone's life would be more directly affected by the war. Her young uncles and brothers went to join up at the onset and before the war ended several were dead of injuries or disease. Kate Stone's Louisiana home was occupied by the Yankees forcing the family to flee to Texas. Both describe the deprivations of the war years, lack of shoe leather, lack of cloth and the unavailability of new books, and both were at times cheered by false reports of great southern victories. The two diaries complement each other.
An Extraordinary Lady in Extraordinary Times.......2001-03-26
Kate Stone is one of my favorite Civil War diarists. She is an admixture of a great privilege, passionate beliefs, lover of literature, keen social observations and amazing fortitude. Her Civil War was dangerous, turbulent and life changing.
Brokenburn was a large plantation containing over 150 slaves in Madison Parish, LA. From 1862 on, it was in the center of the Union Army's fierce assault to gain control of the Mississippi River and divide the Confederacy in half. Plantations were commandeered and slaves were encouraged to revolt. The civilian population was helpless before the demands of military control. Madison Parish had a population of approximately 9,000 of whom 7,000 were slaves. After 1861, the Parish was emptied of able-bodied white men, most of whom had been sent to far-off Virginia and Tennessee, leaving none to protect the civilians.
In 1861, Kate was 20 years old, her immediate future being beaus, courtship, and a gay social life before she settled down to become a proper southern matron. She was unsure whether this route was ideal, as she remarked, "women grew significantly uglier in wedlock and ignored and abandoned their former female friends." This comfortable world was turned upside down, never to reappear again. With great enthusiasm and some trepidation, she watched her three older brothers go off to war. Her widowed mother made it clear that 14-year-old James was now in charge of the running of the plantation and the protection of the rest of the family. I was amazed at the serene assumption that a young teenager was thrust in this role, but it seems that was the custom of the times. If you had to grow up fast, you did. Yellow fever was a constant in the area, and longevity was not a norm. Both Generals Grant and Lee wanted their troops out of these areas during "the seasons of pestilence." This was not to be, and both armies suffered devastating losses to disease. Kate treated the "fever season" as a fact of life, and planned around it with remarkable briskness.
By 1862, the Stone family was desperate. The Federal leadership demanded that they stay on their property; yet there were serious slave insurrections that threatened the lives of the plantation holders. Those slaves who were not hostile were running off, and there was no labor to farm the crops. Many southerners could not believe that their "loyal" slaves would run away. Kate was not among them, saying, "If I were in their place, I'd do the same." She was by no means sympathetic, just practical.
The family finally escaped through the bayous in a rickety canoe with nothing, not even underwear, and finally made it across the border into Texas. They were refugees along with many other prominent Louisiana families. Kate was convinced they had arrived at "a dark corner of the Confederacy." Upon noting the barefoot but hoop skirted frontier ladies, she sniffed "there must be something in the air of Texas fatal to beauty."
Kate agonized over the increasingly bad war news and was devastated by Lee's surrender. Kate is one of the most vivid, perceptive diarists of the Civil War. Her diary is one of social history, a time of calamitous change and invaluable for understanding this crucial time in American history. Kate is a natural writer and observer. A highly enjoyable read.
Book Description
An excellent firsthand account of the Civil War from a soldier's point of view. It is a masterful description of war's grim reality.--VFW Magazine
Customer Reviews:
Soldiering.......2007-03-04
This books provides us with the knowledge of day to day survival in the union army. He, Rice C. Bull, was severely wounded and captured by the Confederate Army. He describes the conditions surrounding him while he lay unable to move. It's not a pretty picture and many died that could have been saved. He seems to have been a gentleman of high moral standing. There didn't seem to be any bitterness or hate in him. He was simply doing what he felt to be his duty to the best of his ability.
It's in reading these diaries that contain little parts of the war that we can piece together a more accurate complete picture. Read it and find out what was thought of the food and how marching became a way of like.
The privates tale gives a valuable insight to life during the Civil War.
A great adventure written by a first rate story teller........2001-05-22
For those readers who are interested in a good first account of life as a Yankee soldier during the American Civil War, this is the book. I found the account written by Elijah Hunt Rhodes to be quite bland. Full of patriotic sentiment that sheds little light on his vulnerability. Rhodes' may have been a great soldier but he is an amateur storyteller. Rice Bull on the other hand, is a natural born writer. I found this book hard to put down. The pictures Bull paints are startling, amazing, hilarious and terrifying. This book's depiction of war lives in an entirely different universe than, John Wayne, Turner Classics, or any of the tedious accounts written by the Civil War Generals attempting to clear their name. Full of fantastic insight and ironies this book is right up there with "Catch 22" and "Journey to the End of the Night".
Soldiering : The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull.......2001-02-03
This is an excellent book to get an understanding in the daily life of a Northern soldier. The R.C. Bull's journal is an "easy" read and allows the reader to grasp what it was like to be in the infantry during the Civil War. R.C. Bull writes about the types of rations they were issued, their living conditions, and the marches they had to endure. He writes about trading goods with the Confederate "rebs" and his treatment as wounded prisoner. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of an enlist man during the Civil War.
Very Good Account of the Civil War.......1998-11-13
After reading three diaries (Diary of Daniel Chisholm, Three Years in Co. K, and this book) I place this one at the top (for now.) The description of Bull's experience following Chancellorsville, wounded in the hip and face, lying in the mud, while men are dying all around him, is particularly moving. I'm a novice Civil War buff, and would recommend this title to someone who has more than a passing interest in the daily life of a Northern soldier.
Customer Reviews:
Historic gossip & chatter........2007-03-14
Reading this book is like opening a door through time and having a daily cup of coffee & gossip session with Mary Chesnut. She was from a fine family with her father being a senator and one of the largest slave owners in South Carolina. Her husband, John Chesnut Jr., was also a senator before the war. He remained politically connected in the Confederacy. He was a general and an aid to Jefferson Davis. Given her situation in life it is not surprising that Mrs. Chesnut had an elite circle of friends and knew everyone that was anyone.
Mary loved to gossip and name drop and had very strong opinions on any given subject. She had no children so she had plenty of time to be self indulgent and a bit vain. She really must have been a fascinating person as people seem to be drawn to her. Varina Davis was one of her closest friends and she visited the Davis home frequently. She believed slavery to be wrong & hated the fact that there were so many racially mixed children that looked very much like the master of the plantations. She complained about the costs involved in keeping slaves and thought the time had come to abolish slavery. On the other hand, she spoke of slaves like children that needed to be cared for. She also had never had to take care of herself or run a house. She relied totally on her servants for everything.
She wrote this diary with the intention of including rumors, facts,and anything she might be thinking at the time. John Bell Hood was a frequent visitor and is talked of in her diary quite frequently. She talked about Hood's love for a woman and of his wounds. She referred to him as their "wounded knight". She was a very opinionated, outspoken, and (I think) spoiled women. There are no great military strategies and battle description in her book. She describes the dinners they had or how people were dressed. She talks of all the gossip about all the differert generals and the politics of the day. Reading her diary is like sitting down for coffee with her and listening to the events,real or rumored, that she chats about. She loves all the gossip and thrives on attention She had a front row seat to all events about the war, civilian life, and the downfall of the Confederacy It's wonderful to have the chance to get to know Mary Chesnut with her candid way of writting. She also writes of the trials and tribulations when everything was crashing down aroound her. Her first experience of wearing old clothes, food shortages, no money, & wondering all the while what was going to happen to her and her husband. People were dying all around her and her. Her entire culture & lifestyle were disapearing, everything simply falling apart, yet she kept up her writting. What a fascinating woman Mrs. Mary Chesnut must have been.
It may be a little difficult to read for some. I think maybe most difficult for men for much of it is "idle chatter" that women do when they get together. There is much information in here that you can only get from someone in the middle of it all.
Hard to Read.......2007-02-12
This book is very interesting but it is hard to follow. The intro is very interesting but once you get into the diary part she skips from one topic to another and it assumes a lot. I think it will be worthwhile - it is just going to take me a while to get through it.
Immerse Yourself In Chesnut's Suffering World.......2005-09-17
Mary Chesnut was a name dropper, and thank goodness, because in passing along her gossip, opinions, news, and personal undertakings, she created the most comprehensive day-to-day record of life in the Confederacy that we have. Although this is both a diary and a later refurbishment of earlier writings (to the point it almost becomes a memoir in epistolary form) Mrs. Chesnut, an aristocratic lady in a position to know a great deal about the workings of her short-lived nation, makes everything seem like a first-hand conversation. Chesnut, like Mrs. Grant and Amanda Wilson, a Civil War-era diarist from Cincinnati, Ohio, has a true gift at making the distant seem immediate. Her reports on the initial euphoria of southern independence from the north and later the reality of hardship and war, are touching, even for one not in deep sympathy with her ideals. What I took away from this diary was something of the horror of loss, as Mary Chesnut's society reeled from death after death, not just of men from combat, but children and women in part from the deprivations war mandated they endure. By the mid-point of her diary, it is a rare entry, indeed, in which Chesnut does not tell of the passing of at least one more friend, or son of a friend. She lived through the destruction of a society and a war in which blood flowed in rivers. Chesnut personally knew a number of the primary figures of the American Civil War, including the wife of Jefferson Davis. She gives a point of view that is not hamstrung by being modern in sensibility, and charts a course of the war's prosecution that might vicariously suggest a later alteration of the record in northern-authored history books. For all these reasons, Chesnut's diary is worth reading.
America's best diary.......2005-04-10
"Mary Chesnuts's Civil War" is a monumental reading task: lviii introductory pages, 836 pages of smallish text, and 49 index pages listing more than 1,000 people mentioned in the text. The Editor received a Pulitzer Prize for his work.
The diary (actually much of it was written or elaborated nearly twenty years later) begins on February 16, 1861 at the time of the secession of the Southern states from the Union and ends abruptly on July 26, 1865 after the surrender of the Southern armies. Mrs. Chesnut, the friend of Southern leaders such as Jefferson Davis, spent most of the war years in Richmond and her plantation home in South Carolina.
Mary Chesnut purveys gossip among the elite and offers sharply worded opinions about the South, its leaders, negroes, and slavery. On page 71, we see for example that Robert E. Lee is being called a traitor by some people after his early military failures. Of Gen. Joe Johnston she says, "Being such a good hater, it is a pity he had not elected to hate somebody else than the president of our country." An outspoken woman of about 40 with a goodly share of self esteem Mrs Chesnut does not spare her husband -- who she despises -- and acquaintances from her worldly opinions. With passages on virtually every aspect of day to day living as well as the rush of events leading the downfall of the South, the diary of Mary Chesnut may be the best single source about life in the South during the Civil War.
The most vivid passages in the diary are about the end of the war when the fashionable Mrs. Chesnut feels the pinch of poverty and despair as the Yankee armies conquer South Carolina and burn down her plantation home. She captures the fear of Southerners, "as of a Bengal tiger in the home" of the Yankees and of the newly-freed negroes. "The weight that hangs upon our eyelids -- is of lead"
I haven't read this book cover to cover. I pick it up occasionally and randomly read a few pages or look up the entry for a event of interest. There is sufficient material to spend weeks reading and puzzling out the meaning of elliptical statements or distant relationships or obscure references. The Editor has done a splendid job identifying in notes nearly all of the people Ms. Chesnut mentions and in clarifying the events to which she refers. This is a book you might choose to take to a desert island as it is nearly unconquerable as well as fascinating.
Smallchief
A good way to immerse yourself in the time.......2000-07-18
I found the reading of this Pulitzer-prize-winning book an excellent way to seem to live in South Carolina and Virginia during the Civil War. I have no Southern background, and have always been pleased the Civil War turned out as it did, but his book gives some insight into the thinking of the secessionists and Southerners in the time of the War. The book is excellently edited, and the literary footnotes are a big help to see what the intelligent Southerner was reading during the war. Now I would like to read a biography of Mrs. Chesnut or of her husband. (The frank tension between Mary and her husband is an interesting sidelight to the main story of the diary.)
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- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Picture Book of Anne Frank (Picture Book Biography)
- A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
- Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
- Bound for Oregon
Books Index
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
Infidel
Suite Francaise
