Average customer rating:
- Reasonably good, kind of rushed telling of battle
- Excellent history of a turning point in the Civil War
- essential Civil War reading
- First Rate Historical Perspective
- Must read - The Most Pivotal point in the history of the 19th Century.
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Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam
Stephen W. Sears
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
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ASIN: 0618344195 |
Book Description
The Civil War battle waged on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek, Maryland, was one of the bloodiest in the nation's history: in this single day, the war claimed nearly 23,000 casualties. In Landscape Turned Red, the renowned historian Stephen Sears draws on a remarkable cache of diaries, dispatches, and letters to recreate the vivid drama of Antietam as experienced not only by its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate. Combining brilliant military analysis with narrative history of enormous power, Landscape Turned Red is the definitive work on this climactic and bitter struggle.
Customer Reviews:
Reasonably good, kind of rushed telling of battle.......2007-07-17
Sears' book does better with the preliminaries than the actual battle of Antietam. The battle section is rushed and rather weak on description. Also after having just visited the battlefield I feel Sears didn't emphasize enough how completely incompetent the Union generalship was and how the war in the east should have ended on that day. By way of example Burnside's 10,000 troops needed 6 hours to brush aside 500 Confederates. Also while Lee was good in a crisis the AVN shouldn't have been there in the first place.
Excellent history of a turning point in the Civil War.......2006-11-27
Stephen Sears' book, "Landscape Turned Red," is another in a series of his volumes that have clearly established him as one of the major historians of the Civil War. In this work, he addresses the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War, and a battle that allowed President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emacipation proclamation and forever end the possibility of European recognition for the Confderacy with its "peculiar institution."
Sears sets the stage for the book when he notes (page xi):
"Of all the days on all the fields where American soldiers have fought, the most terrible by almost any measure was September 17, 1862. The battle. . .took a human toll never exceeded on any other single day in the nation's history. . .By almost any measure, too, Antietam was pivotal in the history of the Civil War."
This is a masterful description of the battle, from its earliest phases after the Union's devastating defeat at Second Manassas to its lugubrious conclusion, from the Confederacy's point of view. The book is helped greatly by a series of straightforward maps that lay out the battle very crisply.
The volume lays out the battle itself from the First Corps thrust through the 9th Corps attack on the Burnside Bridge. On the Union side, the failure of generals like Burnside, the aggressiveness of Hooker, the timidity of McLellan are all laid out nicely. As for the confderacy, Lee's stout defensive posture, aided well by the generalship of Hood, Longstreet, the two Hills, Jackson, and so on is well detailed.
This book is a must read for Civil War afficianados and provides an excellent rendering of this critical Civil War battle.
essential Civil War reading.......2006-10-22
I first read "Landscape Turned Red" along with Dick Estelle on Radio Reader almost 25 years ago. Many years later I still find it fascinating. I hesitate to say "entertaining", given the subject matter - "combined casualties for those twelve hours of combat came to 22,719. No single day of this or any other America war would surpass this fearful record." The accounts of men dying and horses dragging around their entrails pain my heart. But for the historian and buff, it is indeed fascinating.
Sears provides a very good description of the political situation and events preceding the battle, the skirmishes immediately before Antietam (e.g. Harpers' Ferry, etc.), and then the battle itself. His use of successive, chronological maps provides an excellent accompaniment to the narrative. Too many books on battles skimp on maps.
Sears gives a compelling indictment of McClellan. Stanton called him "master of cant"; Welles said he was "an intelligent engineer but not a commander"; Ben Wade said "Place him before an enemy and he will borrow like a wood chuck". Reading McClellan's letters to his wife makes my skin crawl - his delusion and arrogance are hard to fathom - or forgive.
Despite all of his advantages - from the discovery of Special Order 191 to his superior numbers - McClellan's personal performance was sub-par if not negligent, betraying the courage of his men. He had committed barely 50,000 infantry and artilleryman ... a third of his army did not fire a shot. He repeatedly applied his troops in "driblets" with out coordination or mutual support. Sear's writes that "On no other Civil War field did a commanding general violate so many of what a Union officer at Antietam called `the established principle of military art' that a professional soldier was expected to know.
Sears also provides two bonus chapters on the history of "Special Order 191" and the ill-fated attempts to cross "Burnside's Bridge".
McPherson's "Antietam: Crossroads of Freedom" - which I also recommend - focuses on the "big picture" and broader significance in political landscape, while "Landscape Turned Red" is the seminal account of Battle of Antietam. This is essential Civil War reading.
First Rate Historical Perspective.......2006-08-06
I had never read anything by Stephen Sears before and I was pleasantly surprised by "Landscape Turned Red." He has such a great style of writing and includes so many interesting little tidbits. I was so pleased with "Landscape" that I immediately ordered "The Battle of Chancellorsville", also by Sears, and it has been as good or better than "Landscape." I would highly recommend this book to anyone who finds Civil War History interesting.
Must read - The Most Pivotal point in the history of the 19th Century........2006-04-19
Lee, with his victorious Army of Northern Virginia, boldly invades Maryland (a slave state which has remained in the Union). He has no choice. His supply lines are in shambles, his army is hungry, the surrounding land (Northern Virginia) incapable of feeding his men. He must either retreat or advance. Everyone knows the Europeans are close to making a move.
If the south wins France and more importantly Britain recognize The Confederacy (The South). The British Navy breaks the blockade of the South. The war becomes un-winnable for The Union (The North). If the North Wins Lincoln issues the Proclamation that frees the slaves. The populations of democratic France and Britain will forbid their governments from fighting a war to perpetuate slavery.
Two army's of Americans converge amid many dramas which display the untried and in some cases wanting, leadership skills of old army regulars many of whom have never commanded more than a company (100 men) of regulars and are now directing tens of thousands of volunteers into an unprecedented and here to fore unimaginable carnage.
The tactics of the era are the glorious bayonet charge, a tactic rendered obsolete by the rifled muskets carried by both armies. The Brave Americans charge and are mowed down in their thousands by their fellow countrymen. The full cost of one political party's failure to compromise piles up in stacks on the field, to be later buried in mass graves.
This book should be read by any, who for political convenience, lie to other Americans in order to shape their opinions and capture their votes. Democracy requires compromise. Honest debate requires truth. The Democratic Political party bares sole responsibility for the Civil War. This horrible Karma taints their souls. And yet they still use the same political tactics of Lies, Anger and Hatred. I pray to God we don't have to pay this price again.
God Bless the American fighting man, of all wars. Many Brave American men, of both sides, died on this ground. It taught the South that however untried the American soldiers, you invade his land at your peril. Non-American's should read this book because if we will do this to our own, imagine what we will do to others. Americans are very good at killing people. And many of us are not reluctant to use these skills.
Sadly this book demonstrates that lack of reluctance.
Sears Book tells this story with great skill.
Book Description
In this fourth, final, and rousing installment of Nathaniel Starbuck's Civil War adventures, Nate is given command of a punishment battalion: a motley collection of cowards, thieves, deserters, and murderers. Setting off to Join General Robert E. Lee's army, Starbuck's men reach Harper's Ferry in time to take part in Stonewall Jackson's capture of the Union garrison. From there, the regiment moves on to the legendary horror of Sharpsburg, beside the Antietam Creek, forever to be remembered as the bloodiest single day of the war. There, Starbuck and his troop will have their courage and commitment tested as never before.
Customer Reviews:
Starbuck series.......2007-07-13
In late summer 1862, the Confederate Army is invading the United States of America. Major Nate Starbuck has been given command of the Yellowlegs, a battalion composed of failures and cowards. Starbuck does his best to train the battalion and to lead them to the battle against the northern garrison at Harper's Ferry, and then to the bloody battlefield of Antietam where around twelve thousand men died just in some hours. Starbuck and his friends are struggling to survive, not to be killed by the enemies wearing blue uniforms and also by the enemies behind their backs.
This book is the fourth one in the Starbuck Chronicles. Like other Cornwell's books, this one is an excellent read. However, if you already read Sharpes, you would find a lot of similarities between these two series.
Formula series but still a good telling.......2006-12-21
Despite the fact that the entire Starbuck series seems to be a rewriting of the familiar Sharpe series novels, one cannot help but like these books. This, the final addition to the series, is perhaps the one I enjoyed most. Yes, its more of the same but the battle description seems longer in this one than in the others. The theory for how McClellan came to have Lee's plans is interesting and draws in the guerrilla aspects of the war not often touched upon. Cornwell's books are not "great fiction" in the sense of telling a story with deep significance beyond the story, but they are finely spun tales that entertain and that is of value in itself. But do not expect something original in characters - these are Cornwell-templates fleshed out in slightly different situations as with his other novels.
Bloody Ground.......2006-08-24
Bernard Cornwell can really tell a story. He keeps my interest from start to finish.
Fiction, good fiction, but all fiction all the same.......2006-02-15
I will quote from Cornwell's book, The Bloody Ground, " 'There are still yankees in the wood,'Starbuck said, pushing down the lever that rammed the revolver's chamber. ' I shot one,'Lucifer said. 'You damn fool, ' STarbuck said fondly. 'They're fighting for your freedom.' ...'but you shouldn't be fighting. Hell, these ba**rds are trying to liberate you...'" -pages 320-321
Cornwell, Benard. The Bloody Ground. Harper Collins Publishers : 1996.
First off, the yankees were not fighting to free Lucifer, Starbuck's servant, or any other black in the South. In fact, at the battle of Sharpsburg where this scene is taking place, the Emancipation Promclimation was still three months away! And even when the document was signed by Lincoln, it did not free a single slave. The Emancipation Pronmclimation was like saying that slavery can live in the U.S. but in Mexico it will be abolished. The goverment made those, "forever free" where they had no control and let those who they did control be oppressed. It was a military move, a right for the military forces of the North to conscript free and inslaved blacks in the South. I am not a lost cause revisonist. If you can state one fact contridicting mine about what I have said then go for it. But I look to historical documents, letters, and quotes for historical fact. I have quoted from a scene in Cornwell's fictional novel, The Bloody Ground. Now let me quote from history itself...
"It is stated in books and papers that Southern children read and study that all the blood shedding and destruction of property of that conflict was because the South rebelled without cause against the best government the world ever saw; that although Southern soldiers were heroes in the field, skillfully massed and led, they and their leaders were rebels and traitors who fought to overthrow the Union, and to preserve human slavery, and that their defeat was necessary for free government and the welfare of the human family.
"As a Confederate soldier and as a citizen of Virginia, I deny the charge, and denounce it as a calumny. We were not rebels; we did not fight to perpetuate human slavery, but for our rights and privileges under a government established over us by our fathers and in defense of our homes." -Richard Henry Lee, Confederate Colonel
"We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for independence." Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America
"If the South had only wanted to protect slavery, all they had to do was go along with the original 13th Amendment, offered in early 1861 after several states had seceded, which would have protected slavery for all time in the states where it then existed. This was not inducement enough to bring South Carolina or any others back into the fold. The States of the Confederacy, even today, could block the passage of the 13th Amendment, and certainly could have then. This is why the slaveholders wanted to stay in the Union. Their "property" was protected by the Constitution." -Charlie Lott, historian
"The assertion that the South fought for slavery is Yankee propaganda and a monstrous distortion." -Jefferson Davis
"[Defeat] means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the War, will be impressed by all influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, our maimed veterans as fit objects for their derision, it means the crushing of Southern manhood ... to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties." -Patrick Cleburne, Major General
My three stars for this book is inspired by the wonderfully illustrated battle scenes. The characters in this book are very fine and mold dramatically with the scenes and the story. Though I do not enjoy Cornwell's slander of the South, though fictional, I pray for a fifth book in the series. I believe that Major Starbuck, Captain Truslow, and General Swineyard have many more glorious and tragic stories to live in the coming months and years of the 1862-1865. I would love to see the series continue after ten years waiting for a fifth novel. If we are indeed treated to a continuation of the series, I hope that Bernard Cornwell will give a little more historical truth to the South's cause and its soldiers.
PER ME SI VA NE LA CITTÀ DOLENTE.......2005-06-09
'Through me the way into the suffering city.' That city (in this context of course) is Sharpsburg, the location of one of the most horrendous days in American Military history only to be rivaled in horror by the Normandy Invasion. The weight of that day is so succinctly summarized by Mr. Potter, who notes that the battle would one day be in the history books, which he finds odd, "because we came to America to escape history."
If you've read this book you already know how well Cornwell can wrap his words around a scene of battle. A battle as profound as Antietam requires more than just description of historical events, it requires an intimate retelling. Cornwell's words read as a eulogy for those soldiers that met on that day, he brings you to Burnside Bridge & the Sunken Road, he brings you right under the kepi. I found this last outing some of his most powerful writing and easily the best in the series. He hints in the ever present "Historical Notes" section that "Starbuck will march again."
Here's hoping!
PA23 Volunteer Infantry
Birney's Zouaves
Book Description
A reprint of the original 1978 classic, this book includes scenes of the Antietam battlefield both period and modern with directional maps. Makes some startling revelations using photographic evidence.
Customer Reviews:
Pictures worth thousands of words.......2006-07-27
Heartbreaking in its starkness and immediacy, this is a collection of photographs that changed American conceptions of war by bringing death and destruction into their homes. Even after more than a century of war images, these photos retain their power.
the single book that started my interest in the war................1998-11-24
This book is to be read each time you visit the battle site. There is much honor in the author's efforts.
A painless photographic tour of the most painful day........1998-03-09
If you have only one book on Antietam on your shelf, this might be the one to have. Frassanito explodes old myths, brings the farmers residing on the battlefield alive, and painstakingly dissects photos that seem routine. His greatest flair is bringing out the details, such as identifying the hardtack lid grave markers of the freshly dead, but unknown soldiers, and weaving a story around the single picture. Brilliant book, enjoyable for anyone with even a passing interest in the Civil War.
Book Description
Under the fantastic set of circumstances at Harper's Ferry, the Confederates lost and the Union recovered a copy of Confederate battle plan Special Order 191.
"If I can't beat Bobby Lee with this piece of paper, I will be willing to go home," said Union army leader George B. McClellan upon reading the document. The rest, of course, is history.
Although many books have been written about the battle of Antietam, no book yet has been devoted exclusively to the lost order that resulted in Lee's failed invasion. With as much emphasis given to human foibles as to troop movements, this book will appeal to a wide audience beyond Civil War devotees.
Customer Reviews:
The South lost an order, the North an opportunity.......2007-02-16
Not exactly the most eloquent or impressive military account of an important phase of the Civil War ever written, but it gets the job done. Jarmann examines the events leading up to the battle at Antietam, beginning at September 9th with Lee north of the Potomac and stationed at Frederick, MD. He spends a great deal of time dealing with the situation at Harpers Ferry and the maneuverings of Franklin's Sixth Corps at Cramptons Gap on the 13th and 14th. The finding of Lee's "Lost Order" describing precisely his plans for splitting his army and the capturing of Harpers Ferry were found by Union soldiers near Frederick on the 13th and made its way quickly to McClellan's headquarters. McClellan knew exactly what he had and also, apparently, knew or should have known that quick action was necessary to strike Lee's army while is was still separated. But Little Mac was incapable of such a move. (Jermann criticizes Franklin for apparently possessing the same "slows" bug that infected McClellan.)
Jermann is very good at looking at some important details: McClellan's writing to Halleck about fog on the morning of the 16th preventing him from accomplishing much that day, for example: no one else seems to mention this mysterious fog and it didn't prevent the Confederates from getting that much closer to reuniting its army. Although Lee retreated with his army back across the Potomac after the major engagement on the 17th, Jermann does not see the Battle of Antietam as much of a Union victory - certainly when compared to what it could have and should have accomplished. Jermann's writing is okay, but rather artless ("The order reads as follows" is a typical lead-in to first-hand information). It's a better account of the lead-up to the battle than the battle itself, which he barely touches on. The chapter in which he defends Dixon Miles's actions leading up to the surrender of Harpers Ferry (Miles, who was killed, had his reputation ruined by the commission looking into the matter) is somewhat an anti-climax coming near the end of the book. There are lots of maps, which are helpful.
An interesting book that covers more Harpers Ferry than order 191 itself........2006-11-23
First off the title of this book is sort of a misnomer. If you are expecting a book dealing with order 191 and it's being lost then you're in for a surprise as the actual order itself being lost is covered only briefly in this book. Instead we get a rather nice book on Harpers Ferry, it's importance in the Maryland Campaign and a detailed look at Lee's plans to take it.
The book starts off a touch rough. In it's first few pages it insinuates that Little Mac could have taken Richmond on the Pennisula if Lincoln had simply sent him more troops. Then the book repeats as fact the old myth that Grant sent a silver serving set across the battle lines of Petersburg as a present to George & Sally Pickett on the birth of their son. That is just a fiction create by Sally Pickett in her writings after the war.
However after that the book settles down and what we have is a really well done telling of Lee's planning prior to the battle of Antietam and the siege of Harpers Ferry itself. This is an often just a side note covered by a chapter or two in most books, but here it's center stage and covered well. Men like Dixon Miles get a lot more coverage here and we find a nice in depth look at the man himself and how he viewed the events, being cut off from the outside by the Confederate siege.
If you're worried that this will be a dry study of the events like we often find in Civil War books don't worry. Donald Jermann shows he is a talented writer with a sharp wit. His humor really adds a nice touch to his writing and the book flows very well.
I recommend this book. It covers a not very often told part of the 1862 Maryland Campaign and does it with wit and clarity. I think most Civil War buffs will find it very worthwhile.
Interesting from Begininning to End.......2006-11-13
Imagine knowing the detailed plans of your enemy before a major encounter. That's the underlying premise of this fascinating story, written by a career military man.
This book is, first of all, a higly interesting and easily understandable account of a crucial set of events in American history. Even those who are not rabid history fans will be propelled along by the story and the clear writing. This book explains the intriquing and unique events that compelled the Confederate and Union forces to clash at Antietam - our country's bloodiest battle.
Unlike many historical accounts, especially those of our Civil War, this book is clearly written and easy to follow. The key characters are presented with irreverent tongue in cheek, and the many accompanying maps provide an understandable account of the chess board maneuvering of the North and South in the mountainous terrain surrounding Harpers Ferry and Antietam.
When you've completed this book you'll understand how the armies of the Civil War were organized for managment and for battle, how they treated the opposition with gentlemanly respect and near deference, how they gathered intelligence and communicated in the field, and how they often made winning or losing decisions based on imperfect information.
In the end, you'll see that the all-too-human and unpredictable behavior of key decision makers shaped the events that led to this avoidable and bloody conflict. It's quite a story.
good history.......2006-11-01
This is a well thought out narrative of the Maryland Invasion of 1862, Special Order 191 and the impact it had on the campaign. Donald Jerman is a military man and to a degree, he writes like one, which is to the reader's advantage. The author tells us everything we need to know, when we need to know it in an engaging witty style of prose. While conveying conveys an enormous, amount of information but keeping the reader up to date on the various fronts. This is no small achievement, as even a novice will understand what the delay at Harpers Ferry means to Lee at Sharpsburg.
Each day, from September ninth to the seventeenth is a chapter. Other chapters cover army organization, the nature of war in 1862, the inquiry into the surrender of Harpers Ferry, a good explanation on who "lost" Special Order 191 and a very good "what happened to them". Maps, the author and the publisher understand that a military history has to have them. They do an outstanding job giving us 37 maps, covering every phase of the campaign. These maps coupled with the daily chapter format and good writing keeps the reader in the picture. This is one of the better short Antietam Campaign books available. 320 pages may not seem like a short book but for the amount of ground covered, it is. This is very good for those that have not read a great deal about Antietam and a good general review for those that have.
Donald Jermann is a member of the "McClellan is a fool" school and this book will maintain his good standing. Mac is always wrong, Mac always misses opportunities, Mac is slow, Mac is cautious. This is the standard liturgy of complaints about McClellan and offers no insights into the situation or the understanding of the situation. The closest we come to that is a good review of Halleck's bungling and Lincoln's fears. For members of this school, all their ideas are reinforced and validated. For those that are reevaluating this idea, it provides a good review of their position.
The best book on the Antietam Campaign I've ever read.......2006-10-18
I've been a serious student of the Civil War for over 30 years and I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Antietam the Lost Order".
The author's unique and innovative writing style has resulted in a book that offers something for everyone.
The novice will appreciate that the author takes the time to explain the nature of warfare at that time, and provides an overview of intelligence operations, logistics, tactics, how armies moved and how they were organized (the term "Regiment" had an entirely different meaning during the Civil War than it has in today's Army).
The expert will appreciate the scholarly narrative and well thought out commentary that reflects the author's clear understanding and application of the strategic and tactical situations of the Antietam campaign.
Everyone will appreciate that the author does more than tell you where the armies moved, when possible, he points out if the road still exists and what it is currently called. He also makes extensive use of maps. There are 37 maps that graphically illustrate important features such as terrain, road networks (high speed avenues of approach), and the disposition and movements of troops (Order of Battle). Each map is numbered for easy reference.
Everyone will also appreciate the author's witty style. A reference to General Halleck provides a classic example "However, as so often is the case, having demonstrated his lack of capability in small matters, he was called to Washington to decide on large matters".
The book also contains 9 photographs, many of lesser known but important personalities.
The author provides far more than just a presentation of the Antietam campaign, leadership and lack of it is fully explored, the command structure of both armies is explained as are relationships between opposing generals. The implications of the loss of Special Order 191 are completely detailed and plausible scenarios as to who was responsible for its loss are provided.
Novice or expert you will enjoy this book.
Michael A. Hamilton
Major, CmlC, USAR, Ret.
Book Description
The death count from the Battle of Antietam was the largest of any single battle in American history. Landscape Turned Red, winner of the Fletcher Platt Award for best non-fiction book about the American Civil War, is the definitive work on this bitter battle. Sears bases his account on diaries, dispatches, and letters to recreate a vivid drama.
Customer Reviews:
Inside America's Deadliest Day.......2006-03-06
If the Declaration of Independence gave the United States its faith and the Constitution its creed, the Emancipation Proclamation was what saved its soul. For that to happen, the United States first had to endure a battle of unprecedented carnage, one which set a single-day record for American war casualties still unequaled. That is the story Stephen W. Sears' "Landscape Turned Red" tells so well.
Sharpsburg, Maryland was a town of limited significance but great strategic value for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, being as it was a crossroads junction that connected his Southern base with a clear shot at the northern heartland of Pennsylvania. Defensible by means of the contiguous Antietam Creek that gave the battle its Union name, not to mention considerable artillery, Sharpsburg nevertheless should not have been as difficult a battle as it was, especially when the Confederate battle plans were discovered and passed along to the Northern high command. Yet something intervened.
As Sears tells it, the main reason was the Union commander, George McClellan, a.k.a. "Little Mac," a great instiller of esprit de corps but a terrible field general, afflicted with what his mordant boss, Abraham Lincoln, called "a case of the slows."
Sears notes some reasons for that, including McClellan's fear of losing troops, his lack of initiative, and a wild overestimate of Confederate strength. But Sears notes something else dragged his hand, a lack of sympathy with the Union cause, at least as personified by Lincoln.
"It should not be a war looking to the subjugation of the people of any state," McClellan wrote to Lincoln in a document that Sears notes could well have been the basis for his later bid for the presidency against Lincoln in 1864. "Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial organization of States, or forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for a moment."
The last part is most jarring to modern readers, but the sum total amounted to a declaration of cross purposes between President and his top general that mirrored the divide across the North, a divide that could only be drowned with blood. Hence Antietam.
However bad it was for his troops, it was lucky for the nation McClellan was such a poor general. A better one might have pulled the army from Lincoln's hands and allowed the national sin of slavery to continue indefinitely.
Sears presses the point of McClellan's incompetence quite a bit, noting how he released Union troops into battle in unsupported sections rather than a wholesale attack. At Sharpsburg, Robert E. Lee might as well been Bruce Lee for the way he was allowed to handle waves of attackers one at a time. He also writes blisteringly of the carnage both sides experienced, to the point where a Pennsylvanian writing home tells of "a Reckless don't care disposition" that came over him so that when two comrades were struck down near him "even their shrieks and yells did not affect me in the least."
However insane it seemed at the moment, and wasteful in immediate retrospect, the bloodiness of Sharpsburg had a purpose, one Sears enumerates in a lengthy epilogue devoted to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and that document's chilling effect on European notions of intervening on the Confederate side. In a phrase, the battle's bloody purchase was the nation's very soul.
Reading "Landscape Turned Red" is to feel anew a sense of pride in being American, but like a similarly inspiring book, David Hackett Fischer's "Washington's Crossing," it is also a work of great excitement, character, drama, and even moments of alleviating humor. Whether or not you believe America is a shining city on a hill, an example for the world to follow, "Landscape Turned Red" is a book you will be glad you read.
Far-Ranging, yet Coherent.......2005-03-21
Landscape Turned Red is a monumental effort to provide a blow-by-blow description of the bloodiest day in American history. The Battle of Antietam was pivotal to the outcome of the Civil War, even though it would still rage on for another two and a half years. Sears ably describes why Antietam was important to the Union Victory, but more importantly he is able to illustrate the key events of the battle without losing the casual reader of Civil War history. Sears has a clear, lucid style that draws the reader into not only the large-scale details of the battle, but that also provides insights into the mindsets of the major combat commanders. By doing so, this book provides one of the best comparison/contrast studies of Lee and McClellan that I have ever read. Sears doesn't push his opinion on the reader, but rather provides meticulously researched quotes, journal entries and events that make the case for him. Highly recommended.
The Most Thorough Vivisection of a Human Being I've Read.......2004-09-21
As a description of the battle of Antietam, it's hard to see how this book could ever be bettered, but its true impact lies in the author's thorough, relentless vivisection of George McClellan. We all know that McClellan was an idiot, a coward, and a weasel, but this book reveals the true depths of his idiocy, cowardice, and duplicity. This book represents the most thorough vivisection of a human being that I've ever seen. But McClellan deserved it, so no one will object.
A reluctant civil war reader.......2003-04-17
I am not a Civil War buff, not an expert but I was hooked by Stephen Sears excellent book. When I first moved to Shepherdstown which is across the Potomac from Sharpsburg I felt I should know more about the Battle of Antietam but I have never been interested in Civil War history. Despite the fact that re-enactors frequent our area and many Confederate soldiers are buried in my town (they weren't allowed to be buried in Maryland) I had little understanding of what transpired there. I read a glowing review of Landscape Turned Red in Newsweek and decided to give it a try. From the first page, I was drawn in.
I have stood in 'bloody row' and read and in the tower and read. Since then I made it a book club selection. When people visit and want to go to the battlefield, I send them home with a copy of this book. Even history haters can love it. It is well worth your time.
A classic.......2002-10-28
With this book, Sears joined the company of McPherson, Foote and Catton; that is to say, he is one of the finest writers on the Civil War. Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- Birthright-Not bad but not great
- Two Stars-Spoilers follow
- STILL TRYING TO GET THRU IT
- Excellent Novel
- So-so offering
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Birthright
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0399149848
Release Date: 2003-03-31 |
Book Description
When five-thousand-year-old human bones are found at a construction site in the small town of Woodsboro, the news draws archaeologist Callie Dunbrook out of her sabbatical and into a whirlwind of adventure, danger, and romance.
While overseeing the dig, she must try to make sense of a cloud of death and misfortune that hangs over the project-fueling rumors that the site is cursed. And she must cope with the presence of her irritating-but irresistible-ex-husband, Jake. Furthermore, when a stranger claims to know a secret about her privileged Boston childhood, she is forced to question her own past as well.
A rich, thrilling, suspenseful tale from a "storyteller of immeasurable diversity and talent" (Publishers Weekly), Birthright follows an inspiring heroine, an intriguing hero, and a cast of fascinating characters whose intertwined lives remind us that there is much more going on under the surface than meets the eye.
Download Description
"When five-thousand-year-old human bones are found at a construction site in the small town of Woodsboro, the news draws archaeologist Callie Dunbrook out of her sabbatical and into a whirlwind of adventure, danger, and romance. While overseeing the dig, she must try to make sense of a cloud of death and misfortune that hangs over the project-fueling rumors that the site is cursed. And she must cope with the presence of her irritating-but irresistible-ex-husband, Jake. Furthermore, when a stranger claims to know a secret about her privileged Boston childhood, she is forced to question her own past as well."
Customer Reviews:
Birthright-Not bad but not great.......2007-08-23
I finished "Birthright" and almost didn't finish it after the first few chapters. Callie's character bothered me with her profanity and temper. I'm thinking by almost 30 a person should have learned more control. Her birth parents as well as adopted are loving gentle people. Where did she come from??? Towards the end of the book I got to where I could tolerate her a little more. I liked Jake's character and loved the end where he tells her he never signed the divorce papers. I had guessed that by a couple other things that was said but that was a fun ending. Unlike some other reviewers I liked Doug and the grandfather and of course Lana and her son. I skimmed a lot and almost didn't read the book because I have no interest in archaeology. I liked the secondary characters and would have liked NR to have gone a little further with the ending of the 2 families together and feelings a little more resolved. I very often think that NR shorts the ending. All in all it wasn't a bad read as some reviewers indicated. The whole adoption thing was interesting because I was taken from my birth mother when I was 2 and adopted shortly after. I found my birth family after my adopted parents were deceased. I could relate to Callie's feelings as your feelings for people who raised you as opposed to the ones who gave you birth are different. It's a difficult dilemma. For some reason my birth mother had raised my siblings and these were 2 different enviornments. We had nothing in common. I think in Callie's case the backgrounds weren't that much different. I didn't care for Callie's birth mother at first because she had been so obsessed with finding Jessica/Callie she destroyed her marriage and neglected her son. Later in the book she realizes what she has done and mellows some but sitll 29 years of damage was done. Some of the book was unrealistic to me but after all it is fiction so I have to remember that. I still didn't think the murder of the 2 people in the story were necessary to the plot. They really had nothing to do with anything going on in the book and a young woman killed both of them?? It's not a book I will read again but it was an okay read.
Two Stars-Spoilers follow.......2007-05-22
The plot sounded really good a thirty year old Callie Dunbrook finds out that she was adopted and learns she was kidnapped from her stroller at three months. It was a major disappointment. There were too many plot lines going on that you got lost. I didn't like the main charactor Callie at all. She was raised in a loving home so why did she have a hard time accepting love and trust? Neither of her birth or adoptive parents had problems in that department. Even her reason for it didn't make any sense. She blamed it on her adoptive parents' relationship but not once during the whole book did you ever see an example of it. Her language was bad and mouthing off to anyone and everyone got old really fast.
The real reason behind the murders was so farfetched it didn't make any sense neither did the end of the story. From the final climax you expect me to believe one person managed to knock out, drug and tie up four people? Would of liked Callie's relationship with her birth parents to of been worked out more. More of Suzanne and Jay working out their problems and getting back together. I did like the charactor Lana. Usually the dead husband is protrayed as evil or a jerk it was a nice change that she loved her late husband and realized she could still move on with her life and Doug. I did like that Suzanne and Jay were portrayed very realistically as parents who's child was kidnapped who find their way back to each other. The fact the person responsible for the kidnapping and black market ring will never have to pay for the crimes made the story fall flat. After all the suffering all those years Suzanne and Jay deserved to face the man who arranged their daughter's kidnapping and see justice served. I felt like they were playing down the crime making it seem less serious then it was. Sure Callie ended up having a great life but that doesn't change the fact she was kidnapped and sold on the black market. She spends more time whining about everything and everyone in her life then being angry about the whole crime. Her immature additude at Jake was annoying. Jake came across as a good guy but I couldn't imagine why he liked Callie especially since I didn't even like her.
STILL TRYING TO GET THRU IT.......2007-03-02
Nora Robert's is my favorite author and her books are the best...but I am having a tough time getting thru this one. Birthright doesn't project any of the detailed gorgeous scenery Nora is so wonderful at describing. The characters are just ok. I am still reading it..and have been putting down for a month now on and off!
Excellent Novel.......2006-10-18
I just reread this book for the second time. I haven't read it since it came out a few years ago. I enjoyed it this time around as much as I did the first time. The book has everything, mystery, romance, humor, and sadness. It's an emotionally charged book that keeps you hanging on til the end. The main plot is around Callie an archeologist who has her life turned around after appearing on TV. She is approached by a woman (Suzanne)who is convinced she is the daughter who was taken from her stroller in a mall when she was an infant. After some investigating and tests, Suzanne is proved correct. But a baby stealing/selling scheme is uncovered in the process. Callie is determined to get to the bottom of it. While that is going on she has to deal with her ex-husband Jake being brought in on her dig, he's an anthropologist. I don't want to get into too much detail and ruin all the surprises but there are several wonderful relationships being developed, reconciled and explored. Callie has a new family and it is interesting to watch everyone get to know eachother and heal after this upheaval. It is a wonderful love story and mystery. I think this book would appeal to anyone who just loves good fiction.
So-so offering.......2006-10-05
A reader of fiction must, of necessity, give a writer a certain latitude with respect to how a plot unfolds. The problem here is that the writer went just a bit too far. For example, when the central female character discovers that she may be adopted after being kidnapped, she uses DNA to determine her birth parents, rather than relying on the footprint/and or fingerprints on her birth records. Fingerprints would be faster and more reliable than the preliminary DNA results--although the DNA results in this case were surprisingly quick, too quick, in fact.
The plot is just a trifle too drawn out, apparently to fill the requisite pages. This happened and then this happened--without going forward very much.
Again we have a strong female lead, rather, two strong female leads in this case, both in a field dominated by men: archaeologist and lawyer. As always, Ms. Roberts' women are young, gorgeous, a bit round in the heels, assertive, and overly competent. Sometimes a flaw might be helpful to make them more realistic. Still, the characters are not dull and that's a plus.
As usual, there is an R rated sex scene about halfway through, with buttons flying, followed by some such scenes that are not described in glorious detail. With two female leads here, there are two R rated sex prelims, a bonus, if you will.
The description of archaeology is accurate enough. Unfortunately archaeology, particularly of pre-historic sites, is an almost bogus science. Oh, it has the trappings, the grids, the recording of finds, etc. But too often it crosses over into fiction as the archaeologist speculates about the lives of people who owned the pottery shards and pieces of femur. Added to this is the fact that there is no historic record to dispute the speculations. Soon speculations become statements of fact, when we really do not know much at all about the shards and bone. This is particularly well shown in this book. At one point the archaeologist is shown a scrap of bone and dismisses it immediately as being from a deer, without any testing at all. Unfortunately too many archaeolgists actually do just that.
Some Nora Roberts books drift into the paranormal and others are, after a fashion, whodunits. "Birthright" is in the latter category. The tracking down is perhaps too facile, but the outcome scene is pure nonsense. We have seen far too many of these, in which the criminal, once found out, holds a gun on the "detective" and explains in detail and in sequence exactly what happened, while supposedly intending to kill the detective. Nonsense. Why would the criminal not just shoot his enemy and get away quickly and safely? But no, the villain waits too long and is upended. And I didn't believe a word of it in "Birthright."
There is much to like, however, as is always the case with a Nora Roberts book. She has style. I just wish there had been a little more here.
Book Description
On September 13, 1862, in a field near Frederick, Maryland, four Union soldiers hit the jack-pot. There they found, wrapped carelessly around three cigars, a copy of General Robert E. Lee's most recent orders detailing Southern objectives and letting Union officers know that Lee had split his Army into four vulnerable groups. General George B. McClellan realized his opportunity to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia one piece at a time. "If I cannot whip Bobbie Lee," exulted McClellan, "I will be willing to go home." But the notoriously prudent Union general allowed precious hours to pass, and, by the time he moved, Lee's army had begun to regroup and prepare for battle near Antietam Creek. The ensuing fight would prove to be not only the bloodiest single day of the entire Civil War, but the bloodiest in the history of the U.S. Army. Countless historians have analyzed Antietam (known as Sharpsburg in the South) and its aftermath, some concluding that McClellan's failure to vanquish Lee constituted a Southern victory, others that the Confederate retreat into Virginia was a strategic win for the North. But in Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle, historian John Michael Priest tells this brutal tale of slaughter from an entirely new point of view: that of the common enlisted man. Concentrating on the days of actual battle--September 16, 17, and 18, 1862--Priest vividly brings to life the fear, the horror, and the profound courage that soldiers displayed, from the first Federal cavalry probe of the Confederate lines to the last skirmish on the streets of Sharpsburg. Antietam is not a book about generals and their grand strategies, but rather concerns men such as the Pennsylvanian corporal who lied to receive the Medal of Honor; the Virginian who lay unattended on the battlefield through most of the second day of fighting, his arm shattered from a Union artillery shell; the Confederate surgeon who wrote to the sweetheart he left behind enemy lines in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that he had seen so much death and suffering that his "head had whitened and my very soul turned to stone." Besides being a gripping tale charged with the immediacy of firsthand accounts of the fighting, Antietam also dispels many misconceptions long held by historians and Civil War buffs alike. Seventy-two detailed maps--which describe the battle in the hourly and quarter-hourly formats established by the Cope Maps of 1904--together with rarely-seen photographs and his own intimate knowledge of the Antietam terrain, allow Priest to offer a substantially new interpretation of what actually happened. When the last cannon fell silent and the Antietam Creek no longer ran red with Union and Confederate blood, twice as many Americans had been killed in just one day as lost their lives in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American war combined. This is a book about battle, but more particularly, about the human dimension in battle. It asks "What was it like?" and while the answers to this simple question by turns horrify and fascinate, they more importantly add a whole new dimension to the study of the American Civil War.
Customer Reviews:
Eyewitness accounts and loads of maps.......2006-12-23
In "Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle," author John Michael Priest tells the story of the American Civil War's bloodiest day using a compilation of eyewitness accounts. The book also includes no less than 72 sketch maps of the battle. Between the plentiful maps and the chronologically-arranged accounts, the reader can easily follow the ebb and flow of the battle.
The book contains surprises, such as a mention of Gen. Robert E. Lee harassing Confederate stragglers, the soldiers' nearly universal dislike of shelling and occasional acts of cowardice or outrageous bravery. It's astonishing how close together opposing units were when they fired at one another. The author claims that Confederate defenders of the Bloody Lane fired at Max Weber's Union brigade at a range of 60 feet!
My favorite vignette concerns the half-crazed Swedish commander of the 20th New York Regiment, Col. Von Vegesack. When a Maine colonel helpfully suggested that the 20th's colors be lowered because they were drawing too much Rebel fire, Vegesack ranted, "Let them wave. They are our glory."
While many historians write about Antietam in broad strokes, this book gets into the details. For example, every student of the battle knows that Gen. John Sedgwick's Union division got ambushed and cut to pieces in the West Woods. Priest's book shows exactly how this disaster unfolded and where each unit was positioned. Most historians criticize the clumsy commitment of Col. William Irwin's VI Corps Union brigade. Yet, this unit -- which included the 20th NY -- defeated a Confederate thrust that threatened to retake Bloody Lane.
It's easy for armchair strategists to say that the Union commanders should have done this or the Rebel commanders should have done that. But, the general impression from reading this book is how difficult it must have been to impose any sort of control on a large battle like Antietam. This book should serve as a handy and useful reference for students of the battle.
Terrific read.......2006-10-07
I can't say enough good things about this book. Prior to visiting the Antietam battlefield, I read Sear's Landscape Turned Red to get an overview. But then after seeing the battlefield I was eager to read more. Priest's book was just what I wanted. It is a compilation of first person accounts that puts you right in the middle of the action. You'll feel the shells and bullets flying all around. I've now read this book at least ten times, learning and understanding more with each read. I've also recently revisited the battlefield to help me put everything together.
Outstanding, gripping first person accounts.......2006-06-10
Terrific book. Unique in its approach of using first person accounts to describe in detail one of the most horrific fights of the ACW. Priest puts you in the thick of the action. Contains numerous great maps as well.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys military history, and consider it one of the best written on the Civil War.
Deja vu.......2006-05-14
John Michael Priest " Antietam: The Soldier's Battle" is like deja vu. The Minnie balls are fast and thick and the double canister cut down your men. Of the 226 men you led into the cornfield (1st Texas) that warm day of 17th of Sept 1862, only 40 men came out.
This book reads just like you were there. AWESOME and highly reccomended. The research is impressive and for those looking for who shot whom up on one of the most bloodiest days of the war, this book is it.
My research was also in to try to identify what battery fired the U.S. 12lb Sperical Shot recovered at Sharpsburg Pike near the prison at Antietam that I own.
Impressive work, the effort shows.......2004-02-20
I agree with a previous reviewer that Priest's book works best with a general Antietam book like Sears's. My approach to understanding Antietam was to (1) read Sears's Landscape Turned Red; (2) visit the battlefield (this is key to understanding the numerous references in Priest's book to "Mumma's swale," "the high ground 600 yards south of the Dunker Church," etc.--with a mental picture everything fits together better); (3) buy a topographic battlefield map, such as the one by Trailhead Graphics (for sale at the Battlefield's Visitor Center); and (4) read this book. My only criticism of the maps is the lack of a small-scale "finder" map that shows the battlefield and the area around Sharpsburg. As for the author's large-scale "handdrawn" maps, I found them very useful, and they are placed well, usually never more than a page or two from the action they refer to (I read the original 1992 edition, so I'm not sure if the maps are placed as well in this 1994 edition from a different publisher). As for the text, it's wonderful: well edited and even well indexed. The emphasis on the more "minor" actions on September 17, 1862 that a more general book would breeze over or ignore because of space limitations is appreciated.
Amazon.com
The bloodiest day in United States history was September 17, 1862, when, during the Civil War battle at Antietam, close to 6,500 soldiers were killed or mortally wounded and another 15,000 were seriously wounded. Moreover, James M. McPherson states in his concise chronicle of the event Crossroads of Freedom, it may well have been the pivotal moment of the war and possibly of the young republic itself. The South, after a series of setbacks in the spring of 1862, had reversed the war's momentum during the summer, and was on not only on the "brink of military victory" but about to achieve diplomatic recognition by European nations, most notably England and France. Though the bulk of his book concerns itself with the details--and incredible carnage--of the battle itself, McPherson raises it above typical military histories by placing it in its socio-political context: The victory prodded Abraham Lincoln to announce his "preliminary" Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves. England and France deferred their economic alliance with the battered secessionists. Most importantly, it kept Lincoln's party, the Republicans, in control of Congress. McPherson's account is accessible, elegant, and economical. --H. O'Billovich
Book Description
The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed--four times the number lost on D-Day, and twice the number killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks. In Crossroads of Freedom, America's most eminent Civil War historian, James M. McPherson, paints a masterful account of this pivotal battle, the events that led up to it, and its aftermath. As McPherson shows, by September 1862 the survival of the United States was in doubt. The Union had suffered a string of defeats, and Robert E. Lee's army was in Maryland, poised to threaten Washington. The British government was openly talking of recognizing the Confederacy and brokering a peace between North and South. Northern armies and voters were demoralized. And Lincoln had shelved his proposed edict of emancipation months before, waiting for a victory that had not come--that some thought would never come. Both Confederate and Union troops knew the war was at a crossroads, that they were marching toward a decisive battle. It came along the ridges and in the woods and cornfields between Antietam Creek and the Potomac River. Valor, misjudgment, and astonishing coincidence all played a role in the outcome. McPherson vividly describes a day of savage fighting in locales that became forever famous--The Cornfield, the Dunkard Church, the West Woods, and Bloody Lane. Lee's battered army escaped to fight another day, but Antietam was a critical victory for the Union. It restored morale in the North and kept Lincoln's party in control of Congress. It crushed Confederate hopes of British intervention. And it freed Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation Proclamation, which instantly changed the character of the war. McPherson brilliantly weaves these strands of diplomatic, political, and military history into a compact, swift-moving narrative that shows why America's bloodiest day is, indeed, a turning point in our history.
Customer Reviews:
Concise and informative.......2007-06-12
This book is in the Pivotal Moments in American History series and the thrust of the book is to show why the battle of Antietam deserves to be considered a pivotal moment. This book focuses on the failings of General McClellan and on the political (both domestic and foreign) importance of this battle. Even a partial Confederate victory would likely have led to Britain and France forcing a negotiated settlement of the war, or at least it would have led to the recognition of the Confederacy as an independent state, which was a major Confederate aim. A complete Confederate victory could have led to their occupation of Washington and a complete collapse of the Union forces. As such, Professor McPherson makes a strong case for this being the most pivotal battle of the American Civil War. Other battles were very important, but it is likely that they would not have been fought had the Union not won the battle of Antietam, even if the victory was less than a complete one. The partial Union victory improved the Republican showing in the congressional elections of 1862, led to the dismissal of General McClellan, prevented the European recognition of the Confederacy, and allowed Lincoln to present the Emancipation Proclamation (which he had formulated weeks before) thereby permanently preventing any European recognition of the Confederacy.
This is a short book (only 156 pages of text). It briefly discusses military events of 1862 and how these led to a continual seesawing of the fortunes of the North and South. It then discusses the factors immediately leading up to the battle and the importance of the battle. However, the fighting of the battle is only covered in a brief 34-page chapter, so those looking for a detailed history of the battle itself may be disappointed.
Professor McPherson shows why he is currently a preeminent Civil War scholar. His writing is entertaining and the points he makes are made forcefully and clearly. This is a great book for those who what to know why Antietam was a pivotal moment in American history, as well as for those who not ready to tackle his 952-page complete history of the Civil War.
not very interesting.......2007-01-09
The author uses personal records such as diaries and letters to add local color to this campaign. Overall the book does not turn much new ground.
McClellan is, as usual, condemned as barely competent. For my two cents, McClellan is the victim of hindsight, and was a serious, effective man, though I have yet to read that in any popular Civil War history. Perhaps McClellan did overestimate the size of Lee's army, but he acted on the data that was provided him. Much like Admiral Jellicoe at the WWI naval battle of Jutland, he did not lose his force, and he held the field, and that was the essential strategic requirement.
The book has a general point of view bias to the Union side. An OK read for someone unfamiliar with the campaign, but Civil War buffs won't find much new here.
Another great installment in the Pivotal Mometns in American History.......2006-12-14
Another great installment in the Pivotal moments of American history. I think one of the great triumphs of this book is the explanation as to why this is a more important battle than Gettysburg. This book takes into consideration all of the international factors that went into the significance of the battle. It clearly provides a discussion of what happened and with the pictures and diagrams provided you get a very vivid picture of one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War. This is an excellent book for civil war buffs and a must have for a civil war library. James McPhereson continues his streak of developing excellent and thoughtful civil war novels.
Shorter McPherson, but still terrific research and contextually sound.......2006-12-13
Crossroads of Freedom, by James M. McPherson, does a superb job in its goal of discussing how the Battle of Antietam was a turning point in the American Civil War. McPherson, our pre-eminent historian on the Civil War era, writes clearly and concisely and is very successful in the goals set forth by the author and fellow editor of the Pivotal Moments in American History Series, David Hackett Fischer. As Fischer states in the Editor's Note "It takes a long view of its subject and sets the battle firmly in the context of large historical processes. This is also an idea of historical change not as a single transforming event, but as a web of contingencies."
A word of caution here. For those who have read McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom, (and if one is interested in this period it should be required reading) his prose in Crossroads seems a bit pithy, but rest assured, as with all of McPherson's writings and teachings, there is no shortfall on research. Professor McPherson weaves wonderful quotes from letters written by privates, by generals, both "Presidents", Lincoln and Davis, and news articles and headlines into his always strong narrative. His writing always seems to amaze as his narrative is seamless but, at the same time, his ability to put an event into its historical context is his main strength in his written research.
All in all a terrific, if short, book on a period in time where so much of our young country's future hung in the outcome of many variables, all well delineated in this great entry into a fun and educational series by the Oxford University Press.
Good popular history.......2006-10-05
Though more a highly abbreviated history of the Civil War than a history of the battle of Antietam per se, CFA is well written, well argued, and entertaining. Earlier in his career, McPherson wrote one of the finest histories ever (The Battle Cry of Freedom). CFA does not begin to match BCF for its sweep and erudition, but of course its focus (on a "pivotal moment in American history") is intentionally more narrow. CFA is pitched to the McCullough and Ken Burns crowd (I among them), purveyors both of excellent popular histories and excellent scholarly histories. With BCF, McPherson proved himself a master of the latter genre; with CFA, he proves himself a master of the former genre. If you're interested in Civil War history and looking for a book to begin with, CFA is as good as any. If you're seriously interested, BCF is a must.
Book Description
On September 17, 1862, the Union and Confederate armies clashed in Sharpsburg, Maryland.
Twelve hours later, more than 23,000 soldiers were dead or wounded -- marking the end of the bloodiest day in American history.
It was the battle the Confederacy hoped would break the back of the enemy for good. It was a bold incursion into northern territory the Union dared not let stand. For Robert E. Lee, it was a moment in time when he would be called upon to offer up the supreme sacrifice. For General A. P. Hill, it was a chance to avenge a betrayal by his former West Point roommate, Union commander George McClellan. For a young adjutant of Stonewall Jackson, it was a lesson in the true savagery of war; for an ambitious newspaper reporter it was the scoop of the century. And for President Abraham Lincoln, haunted by war's carnage and intense personal tragedy, it was the victory he needed to make the dream of freedom a reality.
Customer Reviews:
Over-detailed but gripping account of our bloodiest day.......2006-03-25
As a newly minted Civil War buff I didn't know much about CW battles, except for Gettysburg. But this account of Antietam got my attention and has spurred me to become an even more avid civil war fan. I found many of the personalities and their machinations in this book fascinting, especially the portraits of McClelland, Lincoln, his cabinet, and Stonewall Jackson. I must confess that the battle scenes were so detailed, with so many names and accounts of troop movements fired at me that I became overwhelmed and just skipped over a number of pages. I just couldn't keep remembering who was where and couldn't visualize the battlefield, due to the inadequacy of the few maps in the book. But all in all, it was a good read, it taught me a lot about a major battle in a savage war, and I now intend to wade further into the vast and bloody river of Civil War books, fiction or non.
Entertaining and Accurate.......2006-03-09
I have just finished "No Greater Courage" and would just like to say that it and "To Make Men Free" are some of my most favorite examples of historical fiction. I have always been fascinated by the Battle of Antietam, and appreciated a book finally being written solely about it that was a fast-paced, enjoyable read. "No Greater Courage" was equally as well done. I'd recommend them to anyone.
WOW!.......2006-01-12
I am a bit of a CW enthusiast...I dont normally read fiction, but this one is absolutely the best I've read in years! A park ranger turned me onto it. He said it was as good as Michael's and better than Jeffrey's. He may be over the top on "as good as Michael's"...Killer Angels is hard to best.
Can't wait for Croker's next!
Not a novel, a screenplay and not a very good one at that.......2005-10-04
The problems with To Make Men Free are huge. This is a novel that tells, not shows. A scene takes place at the Pry House, McClellan's headquarters and no adjectives are used to describe the house.
The characters are so interchangeable that the color of the uniform is the only difference between them. Paper dolls have more personality than any character in this book.
I've read screenplays and this reads like a screenplay that didn't sell. It appeares as if it was re-formatted into paragraphs and called a novel.
I've read novels by Michael Shaara, Shelby Foote, Stephen Crane, Jeff Shaara, Howard Bahr, McKinley Kantor, Thomas Kennally, Owen Parry and the list goes on. To Make Men Free is not even in the stadium with the works of these authors.
Accurate Yet Highly Readable.......2005-05-13
"To Make Men Free" is the title of a new book by a new (to me) author named Richard Croker. I attended his speech at a local Rotary luncheon last week, and was impressed right there. Bought the book (Perennial, a Harper-Collins sub, ISBN 0-06-055909-8) and am halfway through it. It's an Antietam book, but it carefully sets up the plot by starting at Second Manassas and pays due attention to Harper's Ferry.
I'm not yet finished with it, so I don't know yet if it's going to end with the passage "And then A. P. Hill came up." Hope not. But then, I'm the person who invented the website http://www.redshirt.aphill.forgood.gov. (Don't click on it, it doesn't really exist. I just invented it to tick off a Hill fan who is truly a clump in the litterbox of life.)
This book is a narrative, not an historical account. As it was portrayed by the author, one might expect a Jeff Shaara-esque stream of consciousness, but that's not really what it is. It's an excellent narrative, a good, well-structured time-line within which all sorts of vignettes are used to move the story forward.
William F. Buckley once wrote (possibly quoting someone else, I don't recall) that the author who seeks to slay his audience with each passage he writes runs the risk of succeeding. I have thought of that maxim many times while reading this book, for Croker's one-liners--really, one-para-liners--come close to being like that...there are so many keepers. Keepers in terms of imagery, mostly. My prediction is that you will do to your beloved what I have already done twice to mine: Make her stop what she's doing and listen patiently while I read an irresistible passage.
When you get to the passage(s) about what it means to be buried face down with bullet holes in your back, and when you get to the one about Clara Barton comforting a wounded soldier just north of the cornfield, you'll remember what I just said.
Don't buy this book for historical enlightenment, although that's there for me, a rank amateur. And don't buy it for "X's and O's", for they're not really there. Keep your copy of Sears alongside your bed if that's needed. And maybe, just maybe, don't even buy it for the educational value of reading the work of another wordsmith who uses the Queen's language with efficiency and precision. Instead, do what I've done and am going to do again twice more: Buy it for the fun of it, and buy it for a friend.
Croker has not written a Civil War book. He's written a work of literature which simply exploits one of the most fertile historical subjects for a work of literature which has ever been. Too tactical ever to be another War and Peace, it nonetheless has its share of Prince Andreis and Count Buzuhoffs.
I kinda like this book.
Herb Edwards
Product Description
Guidebook, Audio Driving Tour and Computer CD-ROM
Customer Reviews:
Antietam Expedition Guide.......2007-05-28
Purchased this item as a gift for my husband. He loved it. It is precise with audio and visual and beautiful format. Small but effective. A perfect gift or reward for the civil war lover!
Antietam Expedition Guide.......2006-07-14
Like other guides in this series, this set of audio and video CD's, along with the accompanying text, is an indespensible asset for those seriously trying to understand the battle that resulted in America's bloodiest day. Despite reading extensively about the battle, the automated and time-scaled troup movement maps helped me clearly grasp the scope and scale of the conflict better than ever before. Well worth the money for those contemplating more than a casual visit to this site, one of the best preserved of all civil war battlefields.
Helpful prior battlefield visit.......2006-05-30
Very nice multimedia guide to the battlefield. A mixture of pictures, maps (animated), and audio. Covers the campaign and the battle itself, concentrating on the battle primarily.
The maps especially are helpful for a battlefield where there was quite a bit of "ebb+flow", and a multiple areas of combat across a large area. Of all the Antietam maps I reviewed, this CD's was the most helpful as it gave you a very clear timeline of the battle.
I recommend this strongly if you are going to visit the battlefield (a beautiful battlefield by the way), or are researching the battle.
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