North Against South: The American Iliad, 1848-1877

by Ludwell H. Johnson

An excellent history of the War Between the States and Reconstruction, which is being used at Liberty University, the University of South Carolina, by homeschoolers, numerous private classical and Christian academies, and history enthusiasts everywhere. “...the Southern version...” --John Mering, University of Arizona “Johnson presents all of the basic facts that the beginning student or casual reader should know. Yet it is the author’s assertions that make this book as provocative as it is stimulating.... Johnson ... concludes that the horrors of Reconstruction were but a continuation of atrocities perpetuated during the war by Union armies.... How refreshing it is now to see a new conservative approach to Civil War history.” --James I. Robertson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute “Ludwell Johnson’s work is the history that has long been waited for by Southerners (and by their sympathizers, for more numerous than is usually admitted). By marshalling objective information that has long been known but ignored, Johnson has desacralized ‘the glorious war for the Union’ and redeemed the honour of the Confederacy.” --Clyde N. Wilson, University of South Carolina “[Johnson] prefers Lee to Grant as a military commander and Jefferson Davis to Lincoln as a war president; and he sees the South as defending itself against an aggressive North. Here, in short, is a controversial history of the Civil War era. But if learning begins with provocation ... readers of this book will be doubly educated---first in the remarkable amount of information it contains, and second in its challenge to orthodoxy and consequent stimulus to thought.” --Don B. Fehrenbacher, Stanford University “Johnson does a masterful job of integrating the political, social, economic, racial, and other issues ... this is a volume that the knowledgeable Civil War era student will find stimulating and perhaps argumentative.” --E.B. Long, University of Wyoming

Genres: History, Civil War, American History, Nonfiction

326 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[EJ Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

At once a textbook and a thesis-driven history book, Dr. Ludwell H. Johnson's seminal work on the War Between the States was a masterpiece upon its original publication in 1978. Concise and readable while also being comprehensive and informed, it was originally celebrated for Johnson's incredible ability to condense the complex ideas of the mid 19th century into just three hundred pages. Today, Johnson is to be valued for his mediated approach to this controversial period in American history: he is forceful without being polemical and credible without being dogmatic. Johnson's civil tone and ability to engage with alternate viewpoints alone sets his work apart from most modern scholarship contending with the War Between the States.

Starting with the crisis over slavery in the territories, Johnson advances point by point through the political, cultural, and economic disputes which culminated in open conflict, and concludes with an intensive examination of Reconstruction and its repercussions: the reviewed edition includes an informative essay on historiography concerning this period. On every subject Johnson's arguments and clear and reasonable and his prose is elegant and to the point. He relies heavily upon primary sources but employs his block quotes judiciously, never allowing an anecdote or aside to distract from the thrust of each point. In this regard, Johnson's organizational schema is excellent: each chapter is divided into clearly delineated subsections, which makes it much easier to look up individual points or ideas. As such, American Iliad manages to cover all the major aspects of the War Between the States with remarkable brevity and ease of use.

Such brevity, however, has its downsides. Assuming a macro approach at times robs Johnson's arguments of nuance, and in the interests of concision there are certain pronounced elisions. At times Johnson's assessment of historical figures come off as a little off-handed: his treatment of Alexander Stephens, Horace Greeley, and black Reconstruction congressmen (the latter being treated somewhat monolithicly) are the most egregious examples. Johnson's roots in economic history also, at times, tend to inflate the importance of the all mighty dollar in the proceedings of the war, its origins, and its aftermath. Finally, Johnson's thematic approach breaks down somewhat in his dealings with the war years themselves: rather than approach the war chronologically, Johnson divides the total conflict into themes and deals with side, the North and the South, separately. This division might prove jarring to those who do not already have a firm grasp of the timeline of the War.

These paltry complaints, however, are moot when compared with the overall triumph that is Johnson's American Iliad. I consider this book essential reading for any student of the War Between the States, and it would prove especially useful in high school classrooms, where Johnson's balanced and evidence-driven approach to history is most critically needed.

[Zachary Garris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard this was the best survey of the Civil War. It did not disappoint. From a position more sympathetic to the South than other accounts. Johnson does a good job covering the events leading up to the war, as well as the beginnings of Reconstruction.