The War for the Union: The Organized War to Victory 1864-1865

The War for the Union

by Allan Nevins

BRO-DART COVER. LIKE NEW DJ/ V/G to LIKE NEW BOOK. 1971 Scribner hardcover, Allan Nevins (The Emergence of Modern America 1865-1878). With The Organized War to 1864-1865, Allan Nevins completes his masterly study of the American Civil War. The qualities of clarity, absolute command of the sources, and full recognition of the drama inherent in the theme, which have distinguished the previous volumes can all be found here as well. And there is something a communication without sentimentality of the heartbreak of this national tragedy for the victors as well as the vanquished. ("He seemed," wrote one observer of President Lincoln, "to be in mourning for all the dead of all the endless battles.") Nevins provides the reader with an analysis of the social and economic effects of the conflict which is outstanding for wisdom and depth.Allan Nevins won the National Book Award for The Organized War to 1864-1865 and The Organized 1863-1864, the preceding volume in The War for the Union.All four volumes of the War for the Union are currently available from Konecky & Konecky. - Amazon

Genres: Civil War, History, Nonfiction, American Civil War, Military History, Civil War History, American History

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Allan Nevins was an American historian and journalist, renowned for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as President Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller.

Reviews

[Brian Miracle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last book in Allan Nevins’ history of the Civil War and the events that preceded it. If you’re looking for a strictly military history, this isn’t for you. However, if you want a series that covers the military aspects of the war, along with the political and economic aspects, I recommend this series.

[James Bechtel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Geo Forman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Likely the best of the 8 volumes. Great conclusions to the war and the turmoil on society.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

BW

[Davy Bennett]

1971 hb.
Looks good, but I have read the Catton trilogy, and a little Shaara. Even some Shelby Foote. Have to make some hard cuts. This is one.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the eighth and final volume in Allan Nevins's epic "Ordeal of the Union" history of the Civil War. Sad to say, I found it to be the weakest book in the series. But it is still well worth reading.

The strength of Nevins's books is his examination of cultural and social and political undercurrents that standard histories ignore. The previous book in the series was perhaps the strongest example of that. In this final volume, however, he is mostly focused on military matters. And yet he is reluctant to delve into any areas which he believes the reader should already know. So he zooms through the Overland Campaign, where Grant and Meade led the Army of the Potomac toward Richmond, and then around it, putting Lee's army in a chokehold with the Siege of Petersburg. On the other hand, he goes into great detail with the Battle of Franklin. The result is an unbalanced narrative that gives the reader a distorted perspective on the course of the war.

I wish Nevins had lived to complete his planned two further volumes covering the events of Reconstruction. No other historian reads the primary sources as completely and cogently, even if one disagrees with some of his conclusions.

[Larry E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed descriptions of troop movements during skirmishes and battles.