Coal Black Horse

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The Civil War has provided the backdrop for several authors in recent years: Michael Shaara, Robert Hicks, E.L. Doctorow, Howard Bahr, and Charles Frazier, to name a few. Robert Olmstead can take his place among the best of them with this stirring tale of a 14-year-old boy's loss of innocence as he follows the horrors of war.

The boy is Robey Childs, sent by his mother to bring his father home from the War. She has "the sight," and when she "sees" that General Thomas Jackson is dead, she tells Robey "Thomas Jackson has been killed... There's no sense in this continuing... This was a mistake a long time before we knew it, but a mistake nonetheless. Go and find your father and bring him back to his home." She sews a coat for him that is blue on one side and gray on the other, tells him to trust no one and sends him off.

He is ill-prepared for all that will happen to him. When his horse pulls up lame, he walks her to the blacksmith, but she is unfit for the task ahead. The blacksmith offers Robey a horse on loan until his task is completed. "It was coal black, stood sixteen hands, and it was clear to see the animal suffered no lack of self possession." Indeed, the horse is more fit to do his job than is Robey. Olmstead creates an iconic horse, but never anthrpomorphizes or romanticizes the relationship between boy and horse. When they are separated, Robey is truly at sea. When they are together, they move as one.

Robey encounters every kind of evil, venality, cruelty, squalor, and depravity imaginable. He is hardened beyond his years by what he sees. There is a battle scene as horrific as any ever written, graphic and frightening. "There were enough limbs and organs, heads and hands, ribs and feet to stitch together body after body and were only in need of thread and needle and a celestial seamstress." Robey is changed forever, but never dehumanized. Olmstead leaves the reader in no doubt about the unconscionable ravages of war; he also shows us the redemption that such suffering can bring. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

When Robey Childs's mother has a premonition about her husband, a soldier fighting in the Civil War, she does the unthinkable: she instructs her only child to find his father on the battlefield and bring him home.

At fourteen, wearing the coat his mother sewed to ensure his safety—blue on one side, gray on the other—Robey thinks he is off on a great adventure. But not far from home, his horse falters and he realizes the enormity of his task. It takes the gift of a powerful and noble coal black horse to show him how to undertake the most important journey of his life: with boldnesss, bravery, and self-possession.

Yet even that horse is no match for the brutality and senselessness of war, no surrogate for the courage Robey needs to summon in its face. It's in the center of that landscape, as witness to the lawlessness and carnage around him, that he is forced to raise a gun for the first time in his life. When he returns to his mother, Robey Childs will be the best a man can be, and the worst, irrevocably scarred by all he has seen—and all he has done.

When Robert Olmstead published his debut, River Dogs, he was compared to Richard Ford, Raymond Carver, Thomas McGuane. Since that time, Olmstead has received high praise for all of his work. But it's this book that is destined to become a classic. Coal Black Horse joins the pantheon of great war novels— All Quiet on the Western Front, The Red Badge of Courage, The Naked and the Dead.

Customer Reviews:

Emotionally flat; too many odd conincidences; arcane vocablulary.......2007-09-25

I had never read a novel by this author and came away disappointed. He seems to enjoy using arcane words ("cobby horse" for "stout horse" being a good example) that are not necessary to move the story along. I could understand this if it were in dialog, but the usage is typically not.
The writing struck me as emotionally flat, full of too hard to believe coincidences- finding his father on the Gettysburg battlefield (which is quite large), having two antagonists show up, separately no less, at his mothers wilderness farm- are three examples.
Finally, to be picky, he has a major plot flaw regarding the aftermath of the battle- as Robey arrived at Gettysburg after the battle he surely would have encountered the Confederate Army in full retreat on its way south to the Potomac River.
In summary, I felt I wasted my time reading this novel, and won't embark on any more by Olmstead.

Wonderful.......2007-09-03

Shoot, I wait 10 years for Olmstead to publish another book and it was over in a day. I will be reading it again and again though. His command of the language is so brilliant and his storytelling, enchanting. If you are not aquainted with this author, go back to the Amazon search and buy everything.

Coal Black Horse.......2007-07-14

I love this book. It's been a long time since I've read anything that's hard to put down.

Unusual Civil War Saga.......2007-06-27

I am halfway through "Coal Black Horse" and enjoying the excellent writing. The story is engrossing and reminds me somewhat of the style of Cormac McCarthy, who us my favorite author.

Definitely worth the read.

Moving anti-war tale very well told........2007-06-25

During the Civil War, 14-year-old Robey Childs is ordered by his mother to go and find his father and bring him home - she has had a foreboding and wants no more to do with this war. Robey's odyssey, on the back of the titular horse, is fascinating and beautifully told, ultimately heartbreaking. Robey's education on the road and on the battlefield of Gettysburg is painfully delineated, but so very revealing about human nature. The book can be graphic and unsentimental about violence, but it's the violence done to Robey's soul that most resonates. Quite good as a bildungsroman as well as an anti-war statement.

Darfur: A Short History of a Long War (African Arguments)

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Short and excellent
Swahili Time!
Instructive look at Darfur

Darfur: A Short History of a Long War (African Arguments)
Julie Flint , and Alex de Waal
Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

Sudan | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

East Africa | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 1842776975

Book Description

This book details the history of Darfur, its conflicts, and the designs on the region by the governments in Khartoum and Tripoli. It investigates the identity of the infamous "Janjawiid" militia and the nature of the insurrection, charts the unfolding crisis and the international response, and concludes by asking what the future holds in store.

Customer Reviews:

Short and excellent.......2007-09-20

People professionally concerned with genocide prevention and Darfur recommended this short but outstanding book (there are quite a few others on the crisis) when I needed to supplement my knowledge quickly. Its 134 pages of condensed information are based on prolonged and detailed work in the region and with people who know it well. The complexity of Darfur and its crisis as well as its relationship to other regions of Sudan emerge with balance, but with a clear picture of the horrors being committed. It enlarged my knowledge greatly beyond what I had gleaned from the media and a few days spent with some refugees from Darfur. It discusses events up to early 2005, its publication year, so is not quite up to date. The experts recommended it despite pointing this out, and I'm glad they did.

Swahili Time!.......2007-05-04

This book is a valuable asset to any library. The only problem I had with this book is trying to read Swahili. I took Introduction to Swahili 101 at Oklahoma City Junior College, but I guess that just was not good enough.

Instructive look at Darfur.......2007-03-31

There are plenty of serious human rights abuses in Africa which Westerners, particularly American corporations and arms dealers have strong complicity in: the 4 million dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi, Equatorial Guinea under Teodor Obiang, Chad under Idriss Deby, Uganda under Museveni. One can also mention the horrors of the neoliberal economic model which African governments have followed so studiously. But Sudan and Zimbabwe seem to take up 90 percent of recent Western media reporting about abuses in the region. Both governments, vile as they certainly are, have struck independent courses via US power over the years and so are demonized in the US media. Former Senator John Danforth, US ambassador to the UN in 2004, stated on British tv in 2005 that the main reason the Bush administration made noises about Darfur in the election year of 04' was to please the voting block of fundamentalist Christians who have long believed the Sudanese regime to be satanic.

There is plenty of stuff in this book about the barbaric atrocities of the Sudanese government and the Janjiweed, the paramilitary force which acts as a proxy for the Sudanese military in Darfur.. In Darfur, the driving Arab supremacist ideology was rooted in the "Arab Gathering" group which emerged under the backing of Colonel Qadaffi of Libya in the 70's and 80's. Many in Sudan's government have been influenced by this ideology. The authors provide much quotation from these brethren who stress the need to make Darfur a purely Arab homeland and to cleanse it of non-Arab elements. Qadaffi funded the Sudanese Islamist/Arab nationalist groups Ansar and Muslim Brothers against his enemy, Sudan's then dictator Jafarr Nimieri in the 70's and early 80's. Many in these groups ended up in positions of power after the Islamist regime took power in June 1989. Qadaffi also funded Arab supremacists in Chad during the 80's, many of whom found refuge in Darfur and have since made not insignificant contributions to the violence there.

It also appears from the authors' discourse that the conflict is driven by the struggle for land and water in an area which has seen much drought, and a dwindling supply of water and arable land.....
The authors point out that Arabs of the Bagarra Rizeigat--to which the majority of Arabs in Darfur belong--have kept out of the conflict.... A not insignificant number of the janjiweed are violent criminals released from Sudan's prisons to serve in that body......

Bagarra Rizeigat have protected refugees from Janjiweed terror. The Bagarra Rizeigat chief, Saeed Madibu has resisted efforts by the Khartoum government to bribe him and terrorize him into submission. The authors seem to imply that most of the Arab tribal elites in Darfur would greatly prefer peaceful social, political and commercial interaction between Arabs and African tribes instead of the apopaclyptic ideology of a Darfur cleansed of all black people that Janjiweed leaders profess. Saeed Madibu, in a contumacious act to the Khartoum government, has resurrected meetings of Darfurian tribal elders to negotiate in an equitable fashion, land and resource issues.

One of the two Darfurian opposition groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) is divided between two tribal based factions, the Fur, led by Abdel Wahid and the Zaghawa, led by Minnie Minawi. These two groups spend alot of time making war upon each other, rather than upon the Sudanese army and Janjaweed. They mention that the SLA, perhaps a joint action of the two factions, attacked Bagarra Rizeigat territory in the Summer of 2004 and burned villages, stole livestock and engaged in other such activities at which the Janjiweed are such experts but Said Madibu's forces drove them out of their land.

The JEM is much more sophisticated. Islamists disillusioned with the extreme corruption and violence of the Khartoum regime seem to make up a significant part of the JEM's leadership. In interviews with one or another of the authors, the JEM leaders disavow any association with Hassan Al-Turabi, the Islamist scholar who was Sudan's de facto ruler throughout the 90's until he lost a power struggle with the country's president General Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in 2000 and was thrown into prison. Turabi had attracted many to his cause in the 70's and 80's because he spoke of a brotherhood of Muslims regardless of race and spoke out against the extreme corruption and inequality in Sudan's society. JEM leaders, according to the authors' interview of them, think that Turabi is a disgusting fraud and don't want anything to do with him. However many of them are specifically committed to setting up an Islamic state in the Sudan, which they say will grant freedom of worship to other faiths and will fullfill the ideals of honesty and equality in government that Turabi's variety of Islamists promised back in the 80's but have made such a mockery of in practice. The leaders of the JEM are often former national and regional officials under the current regime and provide the authors with stories probably containing at least some truth, illustrating their own virtue when they were in the service of the current regime, in the midst of grotesque brutality and corruption.

The authors mention the US and UK backed Naivasha accords that ended the civil war in Southern Sudan in 2005. In that accord the oil revenues are to be evenly divided between North and South, the SPLA has become the autonomous ruler of the South and army units in the capital are divided 50/50 in membership between the SPLA and the Sudanese army. SPLA leader John Garang was made first vice president of Sudan but he died in a mysterious plane crash shortly after the Naivasha accords. However the war criminals in both the Sudan government and the SPLA were granted amnesty from prosecution.....The authors note the desire for stability in south Sudan with its strategically important oil wealth by the US and UK, the Naivasha accord backers. Darfur in contrast has no important resources.

So Red the Rose (Southern Classics Series)

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Sorrow in the Deep South
How True the Fiction
Very engaging look into the culture of the antebellum South.
Classic Civil War novel from the Southern point of view

So Red the Rose (Southern Classics Series)
Stark Young
Manufacturer: J.S. Sanders & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1879941120

Book Description

Classic Civil War novel set on a plantation in the Natchez country.

Customer Reviews:

Sorrow in the Deep South.......2004-05-13

A bestseller in 1934, Stark Young's "So Red the Rose" is an odd study of Mississippi plantation life before, during, and after the Civil War. Stark Young was one of America's leading drama critics of the 20th Century (he died in 1963), and his style seems to have been influenced by the dramatists Chekhov (whose plays were translated by Young) and Maeterlinck. There is a dramatis personae at the beginning of the book, which is helpful because there is no protagonist per se. The plot shifts from character to character and many a character is introduced and then never seen again (just as in real life). The narrative in the first half is quite lanquid, as Young describes the aura of dolce far niente at neighboring plantations near Natchez. When the War comes, there are the classic complaints about petty inconveniences and the assurances that the whole thing will be over in a couple of months. But then the antebellum dream is slowly surrounded by the nightmare of war. Mississippi is invaded and Natchez is bombarded. Two of the young men in the families who joined the Confederate Army do not come back: one is killed, the other presumed dead. A patriarch, returning ill from the front, dies of natural causes. A family is given 20 minutes to vacate their mansion before it is burned down. Then, after the War, when their economic system has been obliterated and their properties mortgaged, the families accept it with a bitter resignation. All this is related in a calm, academic manner, and there may be those readers who find the telling a little cold. But I think Young, a refined critic, was determined not to cater to a taste for 1890's melodrama. His style is straightforward but restrained, an appropriate tone for a tale of Southern aristocracy enduring a Civil Reign of Terror.

How True the Fiction.......2001-06-20

A most enjoyable, fictional, historical account of life in the South during and after the Civil War. Enough truth to make it very believable and the author's descriptive terminology places you in with the characters so that you become very involved with the story personally. A lot of history is learned about Civil War military blunders that certainly effected the outcome of the war. I can understand why they made a movie of this book. It would be a good one to bring back as TV miniseries.

Very engaging look into the culture of the antebellum South........1999-02-22

"So Red the Rose" is a very engaging tale that affords the reader an insight into the culture and attitudes of the antebellum South that became the Confederacy. However, my fellow McGehee descendants (the author was a cousin of actual McGehees in Mississippi) need to bear in mind as they read that this is a NOVEL, not a genealogical register or an entirely true family history.

Classic Civil War novel from the Southern point of view.......1998-08-24

So Red the Rose is a classic fictional account of the Civil War years from the Southern point of view by one of the leading writers of the so-called Southern Renaissance of the first half of the 20th Century. Stark Young grew up among the kind of people with whom he populates his novel, and his novel focuses on what he called "the life of the affections."

So Red the Rose was a best-seller in he 1930's and was made into a movie. Its popularity was eclipsed a few years after its publication by Gone With the Wind. Some critics consider So Red the Rose a better book.

Book Description

Sixteen dark and vivid selections by great satirist and short-story writer. "A Horseman in the Sky," "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "Chickamauga," "A Son of the Gods," "What I Saw of Shiloh," "Four Days in Dixie" and 10 more. Masterly tales offer excellent examples of Bierce's dark pessimism and storytelling power. Note.

Customer Reviews:

Exceptionally Good Collection - Great Reading.......2005-11-06

Ambrose Bierce was not a likeable individual; he was often acerbic, sarcastic, and even mean spirited. Nonetheless, he created remarkably good short stories. This collection shares a common theme, the Civil War, but the individual stories belong to many different genre and will appeal to a wide audience. There is no need to be a Civil War enthusiast to enjoy this collection.

Ambrose Bierce fought in several bloody battles in the west in the Civil War including Shiloh and Chickamauga, is credited with rescuing wounded comrades under fire, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. The first story - What I Saw of Shiloh - is a 17-page fascinating, occasionally critical, first person account of his participation.

The next story - Four Days in Dixie - is another first person account, but I simply do not know whether Bierce was being truthful or not. Whether the truth, an exaggeration, or perhaps a fabrication, Four Days in Dixie is entertaining reading.

The remaining fourteen stories are clearly fiction and are characterized by unusual perspectives and unexpected endings. The tales of Ambrose Bierce not only make exciting, entertaining reading, but they are often thought provoking. The endings often come as a surprise, and leave the reader pondering the unusual outcome.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a good example. This story spans several genre, is not easily classified, and has an unexpected ending. This remarkable story has been recreated as a screen play and may be familiar to many readers from black and white television reruns of the Twilight Zone series.

This collection is uniformly good and warrants more than one reading. This Dover Thrift Edition is definitely a bargain.

A Soldier's View of the Civil War.......2005-10-18

Ambrose Bierce served during the American Civil War, serving as a cartographer and officer for the Union. In these 16 compelling tales, Bierce conveys the sights and sounds from a soldier's perspective of the war, ranging from being in the heart of battle in "What I Saw of Shiloh" to a young boy lost in the woods in "Chickamauga" to tales of the supernatural and of odd events, including "One of the Missing" -- a chilling tale of a soldier in an abandoned house -- and his famous "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge." Bierce's no-nonsense style puts the reader in the heart of the action, making the reader take an active part in the events. A great collection of stories from one of America's best writers.

HISTORY IN THE 1ST PERSON...............2005-09-04

Bierce writes with the eye of a skeptic and beyond the hurahhs and romantic vision of war. Given his later life the war apparently made an immpression on him which lasted till death.
The carnage, vile bloddy scenes, the death never left him and it was obvious in his writings and life. Good book to see the unvarnished truth!!

Ambrose Bierce: Hero/Genius/Necromancer.......2004-11-11

Ambrose Bierce was a Civil War soldier who participated in many bloody campaigns. And the stories contained herein this title, are the output of his frustration over the violence and senseless destruction of that time.

His trademark wit abounds throughout, which isn't of the Jay Leno "Ha-ha! Look at me! I'm a big-chinned clown!" sort, but rather of the "Look at how terribly cruel people are!" sort. The stark dialog with its terse exchange between characters, transcends the page to imprint upon the mind of the reader, that the world is a harsh foreboding place in which to attempt survival.

My favorite story is 'The Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge'. The descriptive narrative at Bierce's command, utilized to describe the hanging of a rebel spy, left me breathless and checking my neck for bruises.

Ambrose Bierce was a literary genius who never wrote his great novel. No, because such epic proportions were unnecessary. For Ambrose Bierce in short form, could convey all the depth and meaning of the universe, while resorting to only a modicum of grammar. He is the greatest humorist and wit that this country, and thereby the world, has ever produced. I miss him greatly.

This book stands as a vivid reminder, of that which led Bierce to become so wonderfully cynical. And this work should have the same effect upon all who dare read it. At least that is my hope.

Thoroughly modern, completely enthralling.......2002-09-23

You would never think of these stories as having been written in the 19th century, but they were. Ambrose Bierce was a Civil War veteran who seems almost to have tried to exorcise the horrors of the war he lived by writing about it. The result is gripping and utterly believable; the style is immediate, you-are-there, not-one-word-too-many. Not the flowery elaborate style you might have associated with Victorian prose.

The results convey the horrors of war as well as anything written in your lifetime. The story about the little boy who gets lost near his home when it is surrounded by a battle...I don't think I'll ever forget it. I won't spoil if for you but you've got to read it. If you think that 130+-year-old stories have nothing to say to you, give these a try, you will see otherwise.

Not to mention the Dover version is NOT EVEN TWO DOLLARS at the time of this writing. You spent more than the price of this book on your coffee this morning, I'll bet. What have you got to lose? Add it to a Supersaver order, there won't even be a shipping charge. Best pocket change you will ever have spent on a book.

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A Communist Republican?

One of the most influential books in American History!

Solid Historical Work

I found it to be rather dull

This Book Makes Me Want to Kill Myself

A Short History of Reconstruction
Eric Foner
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reconstruction | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)

Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877

For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War

Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War With a New Introductory Essay

Major Problems in Civil War & Reconstruction (Major Problems in American History Series)

ASIN: 0060964316

Book Description

An abridged version of Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, the definitive study of the aftermath of the Civil War, winner of the Bancroft Prize, Avery O. Craven Prize, Los Angeles Times Book Award, Francis Parkman Prize, and Lionel Trilling Prize.

Customer Reviews:

A Communist Republican?.......2007-02-24

This is probably the most scurrilous work of history I've ever read. First, the north did want revenge on the South, and boy did they ever get it. The average Southerner, both white and black, had a lower life expectancy, and poverty levels were higher, at the eve of WWII than they were in 1861. The master class of the antebellum South comprised some of the most literate people to be found anywhere; classical education in Latin and Greek was the norm. Despite a substantially smaller population, many of the most important books of the time sold better in the South than in the north. The genius of our Constitution and government were largely based on the ideas of slave-holding Virginians. The Radical Republicans succeeded in turning the South into the most backward, ignorant part of the nation; the daily battle for survival left precious little time for life's more sublime pursuits. The north absolutely destroyed the South during the war, and radical Republicans like General Sherman and the reconstruction congress were responsible.

This notion that Radical Republicans, as opposed to proto-leftist radical abolitionists, were racial egalitarians is mistaken at best. The Southern term for Republicans was "money grubbers," as making as much money as possible was all that really mattered to them; think of the Gilded Age and the Robber Barons. The greed-is-good Radical Republicans would exploit anybody, white or black, in their quest for fabulous riches. Please note that Mr. Foner doesn't discuss the treatment of blacks in Radical Republican strongholds in the north, and with good reason; it would give the lie to his entire thesis. Blacks were used during reconstruction as pawns to humiliate Southerners. These efforts on the part of Radical Republicans have poisoned race relations in the South to this day. Those who would destroy must first divide, and divide they did.

The real pattern after the almost-total destruction of the South in 1865 was that northern scalawags and carpetbaggers came south and bought the plantations from destitute Southern owners for little more than taxes in most cases. Most blacks, and more than a few whites, then worked as sharecroppers for northern masters. There is not one scintilla of evidence that the Yankee masters were any more humane than their Southern predecessors, and plenty of evidence that they were worse. They kept the South in the bondage of poverty until WWII. And reconstruction is where it all began.

Mr. Foner is a self-admitted communist, as opposed to being a Marxist historian--one of the last of a dying breed. And considering communists killed in excess of one hundred million people in the last century, he has zero moral or intellectual authority to sit in judgment on the real or alleged misdeeds of others. Granted, his communism doesn't make him wrong, but his misuse of the historical record does. One has to wonder what's going on when a sworn communist supports the plutocratic Radical Republicans and their laissez faire capitalism. Then again, one has to wonder why a historian would perversely persist in being a communist when their atrocities are on display for all the world to see.

I have nothing against the Marxist approach in history per se; it can provide fascinating perspectives, as in the case of Eugene Genovese. The Marxist historian Eugene Genovese became interested in Southern history because the antebellum South was unique in that it was a modern, non-bourgeois (read non-capitalist) society that has much to teach modern Americans about possible alternatives to the global capitalism that is causing so much controversy.

Historians are right to take a dim view of those who denigrate and mistreat other human beings. It's a shame Mr. Foner has taken the same liberties he condemns Southerners for taking. Apparently, hypocrisy is part and parcel of the bourgeois morality that communists are so fond of scorning. Like every other period in history, the history of the South has much to teach us, not only about how things shouldn't be done, but how they could possibly be done better. And the South is unique in both respects.

Readers looking for a blanket indictment of the South don't need this book; they can make stuff up to suit their fancies as Mr. Foner has. Readers who are looking for some objectivity, I can highly recommend Eugene Genovese.

One of the most influential books in American History!.......2006-12-27

Eric Foner's "Short History" of Reconstruction has radically changed how the period is taught at the high school and university levels. Before Foner, the majority of texts treated the Reconstruction as a period of corruption and revenge against the south. (See for instance, the early editions of Thomas Bailey's "The American Pageant" for such a treatment.)

Foner successfully showed how Reconstruction was America's great revolution, and opened up debate on whether it was successful. Some reviewers here have mentioned lapses in Foner's version, including a lack of in-depth discussion of Black legislators. Foner's analysis is so important that very few (including DuBois) even made such questions before this book.

Today's historians of Reconstruction stand on Foner's shoulders to see farther than he did.

(The current editions of "The American Pageant" have been rewritten to consider Foner's contributions.)

Solid Historical Work.......2006-08-18

If you want to know about the country and politics after the Civil War, read Foner's book. This book opened my eyes to the ins and outs of the South after the Civil War, and all the good and bad that happened. It was another example of how government has trouble living up to its promises. JVD

I found it to be rather dull.......2006-08-14

For me, the civil war is one of the most fascinating times in US history, as well as the time right after it. I felt that Eric Foner did not do his best to make the material interesting. On the contrary, the story was rather uninteresting. I found myself having to read many paragraphs over and over, because my mind kept wandering off out of boredom. There are many other books that are much more interesting. However, if you are a graduate doing a thesis on the topic, this book is very concise and detailed. You just need to be willing to read a really dull book.

This Book Makes Me Want to Kill Myself.......2006-07-14

This is so boring I don't know how I read through it. This is the reason why people don't like history. It is really boring, and it's extraordinarily complicated, when it could have been simpler.

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Faulkner for beginners
Splendid social history
Sartoris Redux
Underappreciated
A Faulkner Classic

The Unvanquished
William Faulkner
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0679736522
Release Date: 1991-10-29

Book Description

Set in Mississippi during the Civil War and Reconstruction, THE UNVANQUISHED focuses on the Sartoris family, who, with their code of personal responsibility and courage, stand for the best of the Old South's traditions.

Customer Reviews:

Faulkner for beginners.......2007-05-05

If you've never read a Faulkner novel, this is the perfect place to get your feet wet. I did exactly the opposite, starting with THE SOUND AND THE FURY, AS I LAY DYING and ABSALOM, ABSALOM! Had I read this first, I might have been more accustomed to Faulkner's difficulties (i.e. using pronouns to keep the reader guessing, frequent repetition of key phrases, images and symbols, allusions to the Bible, occasionally using obscure vocabulary, providing minimal context to action especially early on, lengthy sentences and italic text to indicate a character's interior monologue) and not had to struggle so much when reading his masterpieces.

The characters and stories here (and please, read THE UNVANQUISHED as a collection of short stories told chronologically, rather than as a novel) are more simple and fun than his novels. And perhaps that's because he was taking a break from his most serious and difficult work and needed money and a vacation from ABSALOM, ABSALOM! The stories here progress in Faulknerian difficulty, the amount of Southern Gothic tragedy they depict, and the complexity and intricacy of the plots as the book goes along. By the time you're finished reading it, you're ready for SANCTUARY, THE WILD PALMS or LIGHT IN AUGUST.

But to dismiss THE UNVANQUISHED as a lesser work somehow, because the stories are more accessable, is to make a big mistake. The stories are teeming with beautiful prose and haunting storytelling, and they have a great deal to reveal about what the South endured during and immediately after the Civil War and about the mindset of Southerners at the time and for a long time afterward.

Splendid social history.......2006-12-21

This novel is the first Faulkner I read. I liked it. I think it gives a fair image of the South after the Civil war, although I am Dutch.

Though Faulkner has been compared to very difficult writers as Proust, and his style and works often have been called hard to understand, I thought it excellent written. The use of metaphor and symbols in this book is very stunning. E.g. When father Sartoris comes home from a lost battle, the first thing to do is build a fence. Yes a fence to keep northern influences away.

The book gives some good examples of the change in relations between black and white people. It helps to understand politics and society in Southern states.

Sartoris Redux.......2006-05-16

Although published in 1938, the initial appearance of this novel can be traced to September 1934. Pressed for cash, Faullkner sent off the first of a series of short stories, dealing with the adolescent adventures of two boys during the Civil War, to the Saturday Evening Post and Scribners Magazine. The idea of collecting these stories into a "novel" was first proposed to his publisher in late 1936 although it is obvious that Faulklner was interested in a quick sale rather than in the creation of another serious work of literature. He did not put a lot of work into the revision and editing of these stories for the novel and consequently the "chapters" of the novel are pretty much identical to the stories that appeared in the two magazines from 1934-36. Interestingly, he was not able to sale the most powerful of the stories, An Odor of Verbena, to the magazines and thus this "chapter" represents the only unique part of the novel. (For those readers who are interested in the original form of the stories that make up this novel, they can be found in The Uncollected Stories of William Faulkner).

Faulkner had already written of the Sartoris family in an earlier novel, Flags in the Dust, but he set that novel during the era of post-World War I disillusionment and in it dealt with the descendants of Bayard - one of the two boys of The Unvanquised - and the condition of the South some sixty years after the Civil War. It is by far the superior work. Perhaps because The Unvanquished was serialized over a period of two years and went through scant editing for re-publication, it is much too episodic and fairly soaks in sentimentality, incongruity, and disbelief - all key ingredients for stories published in the mass circulated periodicals of the day such as the Saturday Evening Post. If the Yankees of the novel were as stupid as Ringo and Granny Rosa made them out to be, we (I guess my Southern upbringing is showing through) would have been marching on the White House in the summer of 1862.

But with even the weakest Faulkner novel there are places in which his brilliance shows through. The description of the flow of recently freed slaves - having no concept of what freedom represented - following the retreating Union army is mesmerizing and the characterization of Ringo and Granny Rosa is among his best. Ringo is elevated from the stereotyped pickaninny, whose sole purpose was to serve and entertain his masters, to an intelligent and cunning boy who is not only the intellectual superior of his white playmate and master, Bayard, but is equal to Granny Rosa in her business dealings with the Yankees. The scene in the church where Ringo is forced to sit in the balcony with his fellow slaves although holding the ledger that could save or destroy the lives of his white "superiors" is brilliant and the irony is not lost even on the most casual reader. By the end of last story, "An Odor of Verbena," it appears that Bayard has made a significant movement away from the nebulous but clinging heritage of the South with all its manifestations of honor and codes of chivalry, to a more aware state of mind. However, to readers of Flags in the Dust, set in the 1920s, this same Bayard is shown as an old man unable to sever himself from the traditions of the Old South, and still rides to town in a horse drawn carriage driven by his family's old slave, Simon.

Many reviewers have suggested that this novel is the place to begin for readers new to Faulkner. It is most decidedly not. Start with Light in August, Sanctuary, or even Flags in the Dust - all three very approachable and far superior to The Unvanquished.

Underappreciated.......2006-04-05

The story is that of the civil war and reconstruction, and it is told from the perspective of two boys aged 10-20. Oh, and it works (not a given with Faulkner). That should be enough to sell you if you're interested in this sort of thing. Faulkner portrays children well, and the young Bayard is an enjoyable narrator. He also shows up in all kinds of other Faulkner, notably Sartoris, but this is his fullest representation. Other characters show up here that elucidate their later action, Buck McCaslin of Buck and Buddy fame in Go Down, Moses, and opinions about Thomas Sutpen, General Compson. This actually fills in a crucial piece of the Jefferson history and helps to establish the social pecking order.

This is a crucial book for Faulkner fanatics, but it's also a good place to start with Faulkner. It's not too difficult to read and introduces a newcomer to the history of everything sort of style that hooks people on Faulkner for life. It lacks some of the mysticism and depth of Absalom, Absalom or Go Down, Moses, but certainly rewards the time invested. You can see the ideas for Go Down, Moses germinating here. The nascent state for some of the thinking may be due to Bayard's youth, but I believe that some of it owes to Faulkner's youth as well. It would take a few more years before he would attempt to heal the society he had been documenting.

A Faulkner Classic.......2005-11-17

You can learn more about Southern history and culture from reading Faulkner than from a dozen "politically correct" textbooks written from a Northern perspective. THE UNVANQUISHED is about the Sartoris family during the time of the Civil War and Reconstruction. It's narrated by the boy Bayard, who is too young at first to really understand what is going on; the limited perspective of the narrator, the unconcern to explain the background to events, provides much of Faulkner's famous difficulty (it's said that you have to have already read a Faulkner novel in order to "read" it). But this "difficulty" is central to Faulkner's art, and to the meaning of his works. Bayard is a Sartoris through and through, which means he is fiercely independent, courageous, and stubborn as a mule. His Father is a colonel in the Confederate Army, and a legend in his own time. Even though the South was defeated, we learn that they were ultimately "unvanquished" in spirit. This novel really helps readers to understand the tragedy and chaos of the Civil War for the South, the destruction of their homes and cities, their traditions, and their whole way of life. Even though slavery is finally unjustifiable, much that was good and noble was lost and destroyed in the War. The description of hundreds and thousands newly-freed slaves wandering the roads searching for "Jordan" is unforgettable. Ultimately, the Sartoris family survives, but at great cost. They keep their values and integrity intact. Unlike some of Faulkner's other novels, this is finally a tale of heroism and triumph, but never sentimental.

None Shall Look Back (Southern Classics Series)

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A well-written, engaging and thoughtful novel
None Shall Look Back
Body & Soul

None Shall Look Back (Southern Classics Series)
Caroline Gordon
Manufacturer: J.S. Sanders & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1879941112

Book Description

Grim novel of the Civil War featuring Forrest's cavalry.

Customer Reviews:

A well-written, engaging and thoughtful novel.......2000-07-21

First published in 1937 "None Shall Look Back" represents an attempt by author Caroline Gordon to follow the fortunes of one family throughout the Civil War years. In this she has achieved her goal admirably. The story focuses on the Allard family of Kentucky and Georgia as they struggle with the consequences of war both for those who take up arms and for those left behind.

The central character of the novel is Rives Allard, a scout under General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Gordon follows Rives with skill and eloquence, she writes well of both the physical battles and the internal conflicts that Rives experiences.

Gordon writes with a passion regarding her subject matter, at times however I felt that she has the tendency to over romanticise the idyllic nature of the pre-war south. However this is a small quibble and one that does not detract from the overall power of the book. General Forrest appears throughout None Shall Look Back and as a personal preference I would have liked him to play a larger part the novels structure but again this is not a criticism of the book just a personal observation.

Ultimately None Shall Look Back is an account of what the author saw as the stand of the heroic south, both Rives and Forrest are presented as heroes of the Southern cause and the struggles against deprivation and poverty are presented in an heroic yet believable manner.

Before reading the novel I had some reservations regarding both its age and subject matter. Other accounts of Civil War written during the same period as None Shall Look back have at times been cliched and repetitive. Gordon relies on neither of those qualities with the end result being a well-written, engaging and thoughtful novel.

None Shall Look Back.......2000-05-17

Margaret Mitchell was very lucky Gone With The Wind beat this great work by Caroline Gordon into print.None Shall Look Back was a better, richer story in all respects and, in my opinion, would have made a much better movie and still would. BTW - I'm a big Gone With The Wind fan. MWY

Body & Soul.......1999-08-15

None Shall Look Back is the type of book which has "sticking power". This power will remain as a companion long after the volume has been finished. The path of the hero, so carefully and unpretentiously illuminated here, is always that of self denial, of an abandonment toward a worthy principle or cause. Sometimes it is also a path of suffering and sorrow. Body and Soul. The heroes of this book are human. That is to say they have limitations of flesh and blood, of body and soul, of time and place. And yet for all that, passion placed at the service of honor and forged in unselfishness rises transcendent, and lasting, a truly heroic and enduring fragrance which remains after all lesser things have passed away. Is this a scent your senses respond to? If so, you will be proud to have known the humans, the heroes, of None Shall Look Back.

Book Description

This collection of recent essays on Hemingway and For Whom the Bell Tolls demonstrates the centrality of this Spanish Civil war novel in the author's life and canon and reestablishes the book's status as an American masterpiece. It provides a long overdue reassessment of the novel, which was an overwhelming critical and popular success in 1940. Following Rena Sanderson's introduction, the volume begins with a reconsideration of Hemingway's career by novelist Kurt Vonnegut. Ten literary essays by both well-known specialists and new voices follow. Employing a diversity of critical methods, including the biographical, historical, political, textual, ethical, feminist, religious, mythic, generic, and post-structuralist, these essays reveal the literary and historical richness of Hemingway's novel. Informed by recent developments in Hemingway scholarship, the chapters add up to a valuable Hemingway resource. The book is an important contribution to Hemingway studies, American literary scholarship, and American studies. It is essential reading for anyone working on For Whom the Bell Tolls.

The Boy of Chancellorville and Other Civil War Stories

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Children's Stories from the Civil War Era Offer Historical Insights for the Adult Reader

The Boy of Chancellorville and Other Civil War Stories

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195141636

Book Description

The Boy of Chancellorville and Other Civil War Stories is an unforgettable collection of stories for and about children during the Civil War, with contributions from American luminaries such as Louisa May Alcott, Ambrose Bierce, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Walt Whitman. The book reveals that the war affected the lives of children differently than their mothers and fathers: some looked at it as a grand adventure and for others it was a puzzling, premature end to childhood. James Marten includes accounts from nearly every viewpoint-boys and girls, Northerners and Southerners, blacks and whites-and various situations, ranging from life on the home front to confronting enemy soldiers to the aftermath of the war. Each story begins with a short introduction to place it in its literary context and explains the author's connection to the war.

Customer Reviews:

Children's Stories from the Civil War Era Offer Historical Insights for the Adult Reader.......2006-10-03

James Marten, history professor at Marquette University, edited this collection of eight stories originally published in children's magazines of the Civil War era. The Boy of Chancellorville and Other Civil War Stories will likely appeal more to adult readers with an interest in the history of children's literature or in the Civil War period, rather than to today's young readers. These tales might, however, prove quite useful and interesting as background reading for history lessons pertaining to the Civil War, slavery, and racial inequality.

In general, these short stories are written from a northern perspective, offer characters (Yankees and escaped slaves) with high moral standards, but typically show the Rebels as less honorable and sometimes cruel. These children stories do not view the rebels as simply misguided, but consider them, and especially their leaders, as traitors without honor or morals.

The stories in this collection include Dog Carlos (Louise E. Chollet, 1865), Winning His Way (Charles Carleton Coffin, December, 1865) , The Boy of Chancellorville (Edmund Kirke, 1865), Nelly's Hospital (Louisa May Alcott, 1865), The Two Christmas Evenings (Lydia Maria Child, 1866), The Return of a Private (Hamlin Garland, 1899), Eleanor's Colonel (Annah Robinson Watson, 1900), and The Doll (Charles Waddell Chesnutt, 1912).

Dog Carlos is a boy, a slave, that attempts escape from a cruel master. Dog Carlos is nearly recaptured, but unexpectedly salvation occurs with the appearance of the Union Army as General Sherman and his men march through South Carolina. Liberty transforms Dog Carlos into a young man; Carlos is Dog Carlos no longer, but becomes a soldier in the United States army.

Young Paul Parker is an emaciated, severely ill prisoner held at the infamous Andersonville prison in the story Winning His Way. It says - of the prisoners - that, "Above them floated the Rebel flag. They were kept there beneath its fold by Jefferson Davis and General Lee, till thirteen thousand had been starved and murdered."

The Boy of Chancellorville offers this portrait of General Lee: the man who neither smokes, drinks, nor chews tobacco; who has, in short, none of the smaller vices, but all of the larger ones; for he deliberately, basely, and under circumstances of unparalleled meanness, betrayed his country, and, long after all hope of success was lost, carried on a murderous war against his own race and kindred.

The two middle tales are sugary in flavor, emphasizing the virtues of generosity and caring. Nelly's Hospital and The Two Christmas Evenings exemplify children, even quite young ones, concerned with helping with the war effort.

The final three stories were written in the decades after the war. Eleanor's Colonel presents a generous, forgiving attitude on the part of the Union forces occupying Shenandoah Valley. I especially liked The Return of the Private, a story marked with realism, poignancy, and sadness. The Doll, dating from 1912, is a focused, memorable commentary on the racial injustice that continued to prevail long after the Civil War.

Note: The letter s has been added to the modern spelling of Chancellorsville.

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The prof can tell a good story...
Loved it...
We Die Free
Appallingly bad and historically inaccurate
it was their war, too...

Where I'm Bound: A Novel
Allen B Ballard
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684870312

Book Description

Where I'm Bound, a stunning and engaging Civil War novel, is the first work of fiction to focus solely on the soldiers of an African-American regiment. Throughout the war, more than 180,000 African-American men fought for the Union Army. Many were escaped slaves, others were freed men; yet all voluntarily enlisted for one cause: freedom. For the first time in fiction, their experiences are successfully portrayed in a manner befitting the grandeur and scope of their contributions. Inspired by the true story of a black cavalry unit in Mississippi, renowned African-American historian Allen Ballard weaves factual events with the fictional account of an escaped slave, Joe Duckett, who flees to join the Northern Army.

When Duckett escapes his life of bondage to become a cavalry scout, he grows to be more than a free man -- he becomes a hero. Duckett and his hard-riding regiment roam the Mississippi Delta, freeing slaves and keeping vital waterways open for the Union. As the war approaches its final, tragic days, Duckett embarks on his most dangerous mission yet: to return to the plantation from which he escaped in order to reunite with his wife and daughter.

More than just an account of the Civil War, Where I'm Bound is an affecting portrayal of the psychological effects of war. Through the character Duckett, some of war's greatest tragedies are painfully evoked -- the agonizing separation from family, the horrendous mission of having to kill another man, and the cruelty and moral corruption that occur when men's passions are their greatest weapons against one another. This story of one man's ability to meet such overwhelming challenges brings to life the noble fight for freedom as displayed by African-American soldiers as well as the effects of that fight on an entire country and culture.

Dr. Ballard's first work of fiction is a striking blend of historical fact and dramatic storytelling brilliantly illustrating the accomplishments of African-American Civil War soldiers. Where I'm Bound is destined to become a classic novel of the Civil War.

Customer Reviews:

The prof can tell a good story..........2001-05-22

Allen Ballard knows how to tell a good story. His characters come alive as we accompany them through the tragic events in 1864-1865 western Mississippi. Both white and black characters come across as real people, and I was sorry to leave them when the book was all-too-soon finished.

Loved it..........2001-05-13

My Book Group read this book last month and thought it was terrific. The book did an excellent job describing what life in the south was like (for both soldiers and civilians - particularly the women) during the Civil War. It was an interesting read and it really made us "feel" life at that time. I had to put down the book a couple times as I got so emotionally involved with the characters and their lives. I'd strongly recommend this to historical fiction buffs. I don't think it is a book only for folks interested in black history - I would recommend it to all. I am very impressed that this is the first novel this author has written and I'll keep my eyes out for more by him.

We Die Free.......2001-03-26

"Where I'm Bound", is a work of historically-based fiction by Mr. Allen B. Ballard documenting the 180,000 African American Men who fought for the Union Army during this Nation's Civil War. Like the "Buffalo Soldiers" who served this Country in its Western Frontier, the 1,000 commissioned officers in World War I, the 370,000 "Doughboys" of World War I, or the Tuskegee Airman of World War II fighter pilot fame, these men and women fought and died for ideas and beliefs for which they have never been fully rewarded.

Rewarded may be the wrong word, perhaps recognition was all they sought. The tragedy of what they sought was something that their white counterparts took for granted, or in some cases took away from them. These African-American Soldiers were in some instances freedmen, in other, slaves who had escaped and then joined the Union Army to march directly back and fight those who enslaved them. They fought to reunite their families, they fought for what they were told would be waiting for them if the Union won, they fought for what the white men they fought and died with had enjoyed under the words, "we hold these truths to be self evident". The truths were self evident if you were white, male, and owned property. If you did not meet these criteria the words were as meaningless then as they are today.

Mr. Ballard recreates the horror of hand-to-hand fighting that was often a part of any given battle in this Country's Civil War. His story is fiction, however it is based upon real individuals that lived and fought, and the battles they fought and gave their lives in. His story contains all that was insidious in this war, however he also brings balance by depicting events that this reader did not expect to have actually happened. The events resolved themselves as one would hope they would, and that was why they were surprising to read, and an even greater surprise to read they are historically accurate.

Those who believed he was their savior refer to President Abraham Lincoln repeatedly in this book. They believed he was going to make them citizens a century after they had been excluded from the populace unless counted as property. What would they have felt, and how would they have fought if they knew this same President, "did not believe blacks and whites could live together"?

There were 180,000 black soldiers in the Union Army. How many African Americans do you see when the reenactments of some of the battles take place? How many paintings by those who chronicle that period of History celebrate the blood that was shed that was as red as any, but valued less because of its source?

If there were a vantage point from which those who have died can see what has resulted from their sacrifice, what changes would they see and what it is they died for, how would they feel? Their decision to fight and in their moment of death they may have indeed been free. But did their deaths bring the freedom they thought they were dying for? The answer is pathetic, as any cursory review of the century following the end of the Civil War will show.

This is an important book that I hope will cause the writing of many more. History is only as worthwhile as it is complete and accurate. African Americans, Native Americans, and other minorities have fought and died for the freedom we all enjoy. Because of books like this History becomes more valuable, for if you were to judge the contributions of African Americans by the number of monuments that have been raised to honor them, you would think they were barely present, much less a powerful positive element in the history of this Country.

Appallingly bad and historically inaccurate.......2001-02-13

Considering that this book is fiction, one might be able to ignore the many historical inaccuracies. Ballard rakes up every atrocity tale, every story of white abuse of African Americans, ever told. Some, like the massacre of black soldiers at Fort Pillow, have some historical veracity. Some, like myths of slaves being randomly shot by Confederate cavalry, have no foundation in any historical document I have ever seen.

But even if one ignores these things, one still has the stiff, unsympathetic, unrealistic characters and the boring, monosyllabic writing style to contend with.

Someone really should write a good book on the African American experience during the American Civil War. Where I'm Bound, sadly, is not that book.

it was their war, too..........2000-12-29

i have been having good luck picking good black books lately, and "where i'm bound," continues my hot streak. the protagonist, joe duckett, is a runaway slave in mississippi, who joins the union army and becomes a trusted soldier and war hero; we also get to see two views of of blacks fighting in the war: one, from the yankee side and two, from the confederate side. what i loved about this story was that mr. ballard not only throughly reasearched his subject, but he told his story in a way that even a newcomer to u.s. civil war history could easily digest. the battle scenes are picturesque; you can see the blue and gray troops on the field charging at each other, the madness and blood flowing in the name of war. i loved the way mr. ballard penned his characters: all of them were multi-faceted and human and were just as much a part of the story as joe. kenworthy, the confederate captain, was the most interesting character because ballard showed through him what war does to a man's mind. kenworthy beacme so caught up in killing, that the line between right and wrong became blurred. captain stiles, the union soldier, valued his black troops and showed his admiration for their feats in battle. i loved ballard's use of quotes from black gospel songs: they seemed to forecast to the reader what was going to happen next. joe was an easy character to like; he seemed larger than life, but his slight drinking problem and knack for mischief made him human, thus believeable. my only complain about the book was that several of the likeable characters: zenobia, pauline, etc die. i know ballard wanted this story to reflect reality, but i was so engrossed in their lives, i wanted them to overcome their adversities and succeed. but this book gets a five star rating. ballard has written a wonderful "thank you" to black men and women who fought in one of the bloodiest wars in u.s. history and also strove to prove themselves worthy to be called americans.

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