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American Heritage History of the Civil War
Here is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton's unsurpassed account of the Civil War, one of the most moving chapters in American history. Introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winner James M. McPherson, the book vividly traces the epic struggle between the Blue and Gray, from the early division between the North and South to the final surrender of Confederate troops.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1960
230 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Catton
374 books313 followersBruce Catton was a distinguished American historian and journalist, best known for his influential writings on the American Civil War. Renowned for his narrative style, Catton brought history to life through richly drawn characters, vivid battlefield descriptions, and a deep understanding of the political and emotional forces that shaped the era. His accessible yet meticulously researched books made him one of the most popular historians of the twentieth century.
Born in Petoskey, Michigan, and raised in the small town of Benzonia, Catton grew up surrounded by Civil War veterans whose personal stories sparked a lifelong fascination with the conflict. Though he briefly attended Oberlin College, Catton left during World War I and served in the U.S. Navy. He later began a career in journalism, working as a reporter, editor, and Washington correspondent. His experience in government service during World War II inspired his first book, The War Lords of Washington (1948).
Catton achieved national acclaim with his Army of the Potomac trilogy—Mr. Lincoln’s Army (1951), Glory Road (1952), and A Stillness at Appomattox (1953)—the last of which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award. He went on to publish a second trilogy, The Centennial History of the Civil War, and contributed two volumes to a biography of Ulysses S. Grant, begun by Lloyd Lewis. His other notable works include This Hallowed Ground, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, and Waiting for the Morning Train, a memoir of his Michigan boyhood.
In 1954, Catton became the founding editor of American Heritage magazine, further shaping the public’s understanding of U.S. history. In 1977, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Catton’s legacy endures through his vivid portrayals of America’s most defining conflict and his enduring influence on historical writing.
Born in Petoskey, Michigan, and raised in the small town of Benzonia, Catton grew up surrounded by Civil War veterans whose personal stories sparked a lifelong fascination with the conflict. Though he briefly attended Oberlin College, Catton left during World War I and served in the U.S. Navy. He later began a career in journalism, working as a reporter, editor, and Washington correspondent. His experience in government service during World War II inspired his first book, The War Lords of Washington (1948).
Catton achieved national acclaim with his Army of the Potomac trilogy—Mr. Lincoln’s Army (1951), Glory Road (1952), and A Stillness at Appomattox (1953)—the last of which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award. He went on to publish a second trilogy, The Centennial History of the Civil War, and contributed two volumes to a biography of Ulysses S. Grant, begun by Lloyd Lewis. His other notable works include This Hallowed Ground, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, and Waiting for the Morning Train, a memoir of his Michigan boyhood.
In 1954, Catton became the founding editor of American Heritage magazine, further shaping the public’s understanding of U.S. history. In 1977, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Catton’s legacy endures through his vivid portrayals of America’s most defining conflict and his enduring influence on historical writing.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 3, 2018
Read several times; referred to countless times.
November 20, 2022
It’s always nice to read a good biography or account of a specific battle or focus on one theme, but the recommendations that most lay people are looking for are basic overarching books that hit all the main points of need-to-know, for which I think this book is a great candidate.
I feel like I’ve read the American Heritage History of the Civil War at least once before, actually I think I also have the new enhanced and illustrated edition, and Bruce Catton needs no introduction as one of America’s top historians. Originally published in 1960, The Civil War takes the average reader through everything from pre war tensions to politics, major battles and important timelines, to the overall feelings and consequences resulting from the carnage moving forward after surrender.
I think it’s good to step back and read something like this once in a while to keep the whole time period in perspective. Catton also keeps things interesting – I mean, I actually don’t remember reading a lot about the NYC riots and general unrest throughout the country. The book has a wonderfully all inclusive scope.
So yeah I definitely recommend grabbing this one if you have a casual interest in the Civil War. You’ll learn how it went from a parade field day to a real conflict, from Gettysburg to Sherman’s march to the sea.
I think the most interesting fact that I learned was actually about the Russian Czar using America as a safe harbor, and everyone thought he was backing the Union with naval support. Another interesting thing that hit me is (because I have a niche interest in cavalry and tend to read entire novels on it) how in broad terms, they didn’t play that huge of a role in the war, and/or Catton just isn’t interested, and/or the layperson doesn’t care to read it. As I said, it’s all about perspective.
Of course Catton tackles slavery too from the perspective of the times. I think it will shock a lot of readers in 2022 who have such black and white views on racism and slavery, how it was but also was not that defined of an issue in those days. One thing I think Catton captured well was how slavery really fit into the stunting of the Southern industrial revolution and eventually set the confederates up for failure on so many levels.
TL,DR: I always learn a ton reading anything by Bruce Catton. I think this is a great book. I recommend the new picture edition, or if you want a deeper version of more general history, Catton also wrote a three volume set. There are also a pair of biographies by James McPherson that look at Lincoln and Davis that I think would add a lot if you’re looking for further reading more centered on politics and world view
I feel like I’ve read the American Heritage History of the Civil War at least once before, actually I think I also have the new enhanced and illustrated edition, and Bruce Catton needs no introduction as one of America’s top historians. Originally published in 1960, The Civil War takes the average reader through everything from pre war tensions to politics, major battles and important timelines, to the overall feelings and consequences resulting from the carnage moving forward after surrender.
I think it’s good to step back and read something like this once in a while to keep the whole time period in perspective. Catton also keeps things interesting – I mean, I actually don’t remember reading a lot about the NYC riots and general unrest throughout the country. The book has a wonderfully all inclusive scope.
So yeah I definitely recommend grabbing this one if you have a casual interest in the Civil War. You’ll learn how it went from a parade field day to a real conflict, from Gettysburg to Sherman’s march to the sea.
I think the most interesting fact that I learned was actually about the Russian Czar using America as a safe harbor, and everyone thought he was backing the Union with naval support. Another interesting thing that hit me is (because I have a niche interest in cavalry and tend to read entire novels on it) how in broad terms, they didn’t play that huge of a role in the war, and/or Catton just isn’t interested, and/or the layperson doesn’t care to read it. As I said, it’s all about perspective.
Of course Catton tackles slavery too from the perspective of the times. I think it will shock a lot of readers in 2022 who have such black and white views on racism and slavery, how it was but also was not that defined of an issue in those days. One thing I think Catton captured well was how slavery really fit into the stunting of the Southern industrial revolution and eventually set the confederates up for failure on so many levels.
TL,DR: I always learn a ton reading anything by Bruce Catton. I think this is a great book. I recommend the new picture edition, or if you want a deeper version of more general history, Catton also wrote a three volume set. There are also a pair of biographies by James McPherson that look at Lincoln and Davis that I think would add a lot if you’re looking for further reading more centered on politics and world view
May 20, 2018
This small book is a simply wonderful recounting of the history of the Civil War by probably the best historian of the war. It is amazingly complete in covering the causes of the war, the main battles and the consequences of this terrible historical event.
June 30, 2015
Because I’m fascinated by characters such as Abraham Lincoln or his Secretary of State William Seward, and to a lesser extent some of the military leaders of the US Civil War, I thought a brief overview of the whole of that war might be useful. In other words, an account of the conflict in military terms, providing a kind of outline or skeleton for my continued reading of the political, moral and fundamental issues that led to war, and which the war moulded.
Bruce Catton does that job admirably, and indeed goes a little further: he gives just enough on the context of the fighting to illuminate its key factors. He talks about the economic background, showing how hopeless the secessionist States’ position was, without external help; indeed, he shows how economically the war provided the North with a huge boost, helping complete its transformation to an industrial state, as its population increased despite the war losses, while in the South, the war depleted resources that were already low to start with, and drained it of manpower.
He also talks about the diplomatic issues that rose throughout the course of the war, the struggle of the South to win recognition of the Confederacy, leading to the desperately ill-judged decision to halt cotton exports to pressurise France and Britain, which only had the effect of enforcing an embargo before the North was able to do so itself. There was also the Trent incident, where a US naval ship took representatives of the Confederacy from a British civilian vessel, reversing the great complaint that led to the War of 1812 (that British warships felt entitled to stop and take people from US vessels). The action nearly precipitated war with Britain, but neither side truly wanted one, and Lincoln had the good sense to back down and release the captured men.
And Catton talks about the politics.
How Lincoln built a Cabinet that truly gave him great service, out of a group of men who were his unruly rivals, while Jefferson Davis in the South imposed an far more authoritarian stamp on a Cabinet that gave him little in return. How Lincoln understood in 1862 that he could make a war that had started over an important but perhaps over-abstract goal, restoring the union (far less visceral than the South’s notion of defence of homeland), into a mission to abolish slavery, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation at the start of 1863 as a way of stiffening sinews, even though it effectively freed no one: it applied only to slaves in Confederate territory, where his writ didn’t run. How, finally, the necessities of war saw a far more centralised power emerge in a Confederacy built on the notion of states rights than Lincoln ever achieved in the North.
He also shows the irony of the final death throes of the Confederacy, when it offered to abolish slavery in return for recognition from France and Britain. Indeed, by then slaves were being freed in the South to serve in the army, raising the question of what, if anything, the Confederacy was hoping to achieve. By then, of course, it was too late anyway: with a fraction of its territory left to it and its Capital under intense and growing pressure, it was clear the Jefferson Davis regime had at best weeks to survive.
The bulk of the book describes the fighting itself, covering all the fronts of the war. So we see Grant, Sherman and Thomas emerging from the wreck of the careers of less competent Generals in the West, gradually extending the Union hold first in the border States and ultimately right down the Mississippi. Grant’s capture of the fortress at Vicksburg meant, in Lincoln’s words, that “the father of waters again goes unvexed to the sea” because one of the world’s more successful naval commanders, the first Admiral in the US navy, David Farragut, ably supported by the second, his foster brother David Porter, had previously captured New Orleans from the sea.
Having split the Confederacy in two, Grant and Sherman came East, respectively to put an end to the string of Union disasters in Virginia, and to devastate the the heartland of the Confederacy.
Catton also charts the progress of the earlier failures of the Army of the Potomac, and its partial successes: beaten again and again in Virginia, it nonetheless succeeded in blocking both major thrusts of the Confederate forces into Northern territory, at Antietam in Maryland in 1862 and at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in 1863. Now he shows that Grant, in effect taking command in Virginia, even though he was Commanding General of all the Union armies and the Army of the Potomac remained technically under the orders of George Meade, turned around the fortunes of the Union in that State, by displaying a new mentality. Grant could be beaten, but he would not be deflected: from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania to North Anna to Cold Harbour, he emerged from each gruelling conflict to move further into Confederate territory until he had Petersburg and Richmond under siege. Though Grant had left the road to Washington open, Lee could no longer take advantage of it.
There then followed a nine-month period of grinding trench warfare, a foretaste of the horrors to come in the First World War half a century later.
Meanwhile, George Thomas had finished off the Confederate Army of Tennessee in the West, while Sherman, having seized Atlanta, had set out on his march of destruction through Southern Georgia to Savannah and the sea. Again, his actions, like those of his colleague Philip Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, foreshadow a form of war we have come agonisingly used to in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: the devastation of civilian areas to undermine support for military action.
From Savannah, Sherman moved up through the Carolinas. At the same time, Grant at last wore down Confederate resistance, so that in the end he could take Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865, while Sherman took Philip Johnston’s in Durham, North Carolina on the 26th, and the war at last stumbled to an end.
In between those two events, Lincoln had been assassinated. In the closing pages of this valuable book, Catton explores the impact that this almost certainly had on the much gentler approach Lincoln had planned for the reunited nation. His conclusion? John Wilkes Booth’s act far from aiding the South, did it immeasurable harm.
A good book, worth reading. It’s only drawback is that it’s a little strong, for my taste, on the valour and glory of war, and the grandeur of the United States that emerged from this one. To many that won’t be a problem however, and in any case I’d recommend the book to anyone who, like me, wants to understand more clearly the structure of the war itself as context for study of any of its aspects or of the leading figures of its time.
Bruce Catton does that job admirably, and indeed goes a little further: he gives just enough on the context of the fighting to illuminate its key factors. He talks about the economic background, showing how hopeless the secessionist States’ position was, without external help; indeed, he shows how economically the war provided the North with a huge boost, helping complete its transformation to an industrial state, as its population increased despite the war losses, while in the South, the war depleted resources that were already low to start with, and drained it of manpower.
He also talks about the diplomatic issues that rose throughout the course of the war, the struggle of the South to win recognition of the Confederacy, leading to the desperately ill-judged decision to halt cotton exports to pressurise France and Britain, which only had the effect of enforcing an embargo before the North was able to do so itself. There was also the Trent incident, where a US naval ship took representatives of the Confederacy from a British civilian vessel, reversing the great complaint that led to the War of 1812 (that British warships felt entitled to stop and take people from US vessels). The action nearly precipitated war with Britain, but neither side truly wanted one, and Lincoln had the good sense to back down and release the captured men.
And Catton talks about the politics.
How Lincoln built a Cabinet that truly gave him great service, out of a group of men who were his unruly rivals, while Jefferson Davis in the South imposed an far more authoritarian stamp on a Cabinet that gave him little in return. How Lincoln understood in 1862 that he could make a war that had started over an important but perhaps over-abstract goal, restoring the union (far less visceral than the South’s notion of defence of homeland), into a mission to abolish slavery, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation at the start of 1863 as a way of stiffening sinews, even though it effectively freed no one: it applied only to slaves in Confederate territory, where his writ didn’t run. How, finally, the necessities of war saw a far more centralised power emerge in a Confederacy built on the notion of states rights than Lincoln ever achieved in the North.
He also shows the irony of the final death throes of the Confederacy, when it offered to abolish slavery in return for recognition from France and Britain. Indeed, by then slaves were being freed in the South to serve in the army, raising the question of what, if anything, the Confederacy was hoping to achieve. By then, of course, it was too late anyway: with a fraction of its territory left to it and its Capital under intense and growing pressure, it was clear the Jefferson Davis regime had at best weeks to survive.
The bulk of the book describes the fighting itself, covering all the fronts of the war. So we see Grant, Sherman and Thomas emerging from the wreck of the careers of less competent Generals in the West, gradually extending the Union hold first in the border States and ultimately right down the Mississippi. Grant’s capture of the fortress at Vicksburg meant, in Lincoln’s words, that “the father of waters again goes unvexed to the sea” because one of the world’s more successful naval commanders, the first Admiral in the US navy, David Farragut, ably supported by the second, his foster brother David Porter, had previously captured New Orleans from the sea.
Having split the Confederacy in two, Grant and Sherman came East, respectively to put an end to the string of Union disasters in Virginia, and to devastate the the heartland of the Confederacy.
Catton also charts the progress of the earlier failures of the Army of the Potomac, and its partial successes: beaten again and again in Virginia, it nonetheless succeeded in blocking both major thrusts of the Confederate forces into Northern territory, at Antietam in Maryland in 1862 and at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in 1863. Now he shows that Grant, in effect taking command in Virginia, even though he was Commanding General of all the Union armies and the Army of the Potomac remained technically under the orders of George Meade, turned around the fortunes of the Union in that State, by displaying a new mentality. Grant could be beaten, but he would not be deflected: from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania to North Anna to Cold Harbour, he emerged from each gruelling conflict to move further into Confederate territory until he had Petersburg and Richmond under siege. Though Grant had left the road to Washington open, Lee could no longer take advantage of it.
There then followed a nine-month period of grinding trench warfare, a foretaste of the horrors to come in the First World War half a century later.
Meanwhile, George Thomas had finished off the Confederate Army of Tennessee in the West, while Sherman, having seized Atlanta, had set out on his march of destruction through Southern Georgia to Savannah and the sea. Again, his actions, like those of his colleague Philip Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, foreshadow a form of war we have come agonisingly used to in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: the devastation of civilian areas to undermine support for military action.
From Savannah, Sherman moved up through the Carolinas. At the same time, Grant at last wore down Confederate resistance, so that in the end he could take Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865, while Sherman took Philip Johnston’s in Durham, North Carolina on the 26th, and the war at last stumbled to an end.
In between those two events, Lincoln had been assassinated. In the closing pages of this valuable book, Catton explores the impact that this almost certainly had on the much gentler approach Lincoln had planned for the reunited nation. His conclusion? John Wilkes Booth’s act far from aiding the South, did it immeasurable harm.
A good book, worth reading. It’s only drawback is that it’s a little strong, for my taste, on the valour and glory of war, and the grandeur of the United States that emerged from this one. To many that won’t be a problem however, and in any case I’d recommend the book to anyone who, like me, wants to understand more clearly the structure of the war itself as context for study of any of its aspects or of the leading figures of its time.
August 19, 2014
Great history lesson
I learned a lot from this book. Although I have read many books about the Civil War, both fiction and non, I found this book different from any of them in that the author wrote a lot about the politics going on on both sides. This helped me to imagine what it must have actually been like for the people living in those times. I was amazed thinking about how on earth our nation ever managed to survive.
I learned a lot from this book. Although I have read many books about the Civil War, both fiction and non, I found this book different from any of them in that the author wrote a lot about the politics going on on both sides. This helped me to imagine what it must have actually been like for the people living in those times. I was amazed thinking about how on earth our nation ever managed to survive.
July 4, 2019
“In any case, approximately 360,000 Federal soldiers and 258,000 Confederate soldiers lost their lives in the course of the war.”
Bruce Catton’s book* was a perfect introduction for me to the American Civil War (1861-1865). I had previously read some civil war fiction and I knew only the barest basics of that history. Having read this book I am still lightyears away from being an expert, but at least my basic knowledge and understanding have grown a little. I might add that my interest has grown a lot! This book offers an overview not only of the many skirmishes and battles, but also of how the war came about, and discusses the economy and the political situation at the start, during, and at the end of the war. The battles are not described in great detail; however, information is provided of goals, respective positions, who was in charge where and of whom, what mistakes or brilliant moves were made, casualties and outcomes.
These are the sixteen chapters of the book, with some of the main points:
A House Divided
Differences between North and South, and events leading to secession from the Union.
The Opening Guns
Events at Fort Sumter and preparation for war.
Aims of the war: “The war aims of the two sides were clear. The Confederacy would fight for independence, the North for reestablishment of the Union. So far, slavery itself was not an issue.”
Respective advantages, as well as lost opportunities.
The establishment of Richmond as Confederate capital.
Initial battles and reactions
“It was after the defeated army had crossed Bull Run that the real trouble came, and the fault lies less with the soldiers than with the reckless Washington civilians who had supposed that the edge of the battlefield would be an ideal place for a picnic. Hundreds of Washingtonians had come out to see the show that day. They came in carriages, wagons, and buggies, and on horseback. They brought hampers of food and drink with them, and they were spread all over the slanting fields east of Bull Run, listening to the clangor of the guns, watching the smoke clouds billowing up to the July sky, and in general making a holiday out of it.”
Real Warfare begins
Better organisation of the armies.
Who is in command where, and of what
The Battle of Shiloh - April, 1862
Stonewall Jackson’s brilliant campaign
The Navies
Transition from sail to steam and from wooden ships to iron clads.
Blockades and blockade runners
The capture of New Orleans
The engagement between Merrimac and Monitor
Confederate High-Water Mark
Second Battle of Bull Run - August, 1862
Battle of Antietam - September, 1862: “… the bloodiest single day’s fighting in the entire Civil War”
Stalemate at Home and Abroad
Slavery becomes an issue
The Emancipation Proclamation
Oops, an altercation with England… - the Trent incident
Foreign diplomacy. Where did countries such as England, France and Russia stand with regard to the civil war and support (or not) for the North or South
The South’s Last Opportunity
Chancellorsville (a brilliant victory for Lee, but Stonewall Jackson is killed), Vicksburg and Gettysburg
Men at Arms
Who were the soldiers, how were they equipped and what training (if any) did they have? What were their living conditions? What did they eat? What songs did they sing? What about medical care?
The Destruction of Slavery
“To save the Union, the North had to destroy the Confederacy, and to destroy the Confederacy, it had to destroy slavery.”
What were the attitudes towards The Emancipation Proclamation? What was the impact of the increasing flood of fugitive slaves?
The raising of regiments of men of colour.
Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga
The Northern Vise Tightens
“On March 9, 1864, U.S. Grant was made lieutenant general and given command of all the Union armies, and the hitherto insoluble military problem of the Federal government was at last on its way to being solved.”
Two Nations at War
The Gettysburg Address
Industry and agriculture.
Influx of immigrants: "During the five years of 1861 through 1865 inclusive, more than 800,000 Europeans came to America, most of them from England, Ireland, and Germany."
The Homestead Act, plus others such as The National Bank Act
War profiteers and bounty jumpers
“It was in the South during the Civil War that men made the wisecrack that was reused during Germany’s inflation in the 1920s -that a citizen went to market carrying his money in a basket and came home with the goods he had bought in his wallet.”
Abraham Lincoln vs Jefferson Davis
The presidential campaign and Lincoln's renomination
Total Warfare
The fall of Atlanta
Scorched earth policy in the Shenandoah Valley
Guerilla warfare
Lincoln's re-election: “He got just over 2.2 million votes to McClellan’s almost 1.8 million, winning 212 electoral votes to 21 for his rival.”
The Forlorn Hope
Battle of Franklin
“On December 24, Sherman sent Lincoln a whimsical telegram, offering him the city of Savannah as a Christmas present.”
Victory
A failed negotiated settlement
The fall of Charleston
Third Battle of Petersburg
Appomattox Court House and Lee's surrender
Davis captured and imprisoned
End and Beginning
Peace
Lincoln's assassination
A Sound of Distant Drums
Closing thoughts on the Civil War
Obviously I haven't listed all the skirmishes, battles and other events, nor all the main players. My object here was simply to provide some idea of what the reader can expect.
#####
*It so happens that I have both the Kindle edition and a paperback copy of this book.
The paperback is fully illustrated and contains an additional 100 pages with:
Chronology of the Civil War
Index to the Chronology
The Leading Participants
Picture Credits
Index
Maps
The Kindle edition is not illustrated, and does not have any of these maps or references. However, each important name or event has a link to Wikipedia.
Lee's surrender 1865. 'Peace in Union.' The surrender of General Lee to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, 9 April 1865. Reproduction of a painting by Thomas Nast. (Wikipedia)
May 31, 2019
Anyone who follows me on goodreads realizes that periodically I read yet another book on America’s Civil War in an attempt to understand the complexities of that monumental struggle. For all practical purposes the war ended April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Courthouse when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. That was over one hundred sixty years ago yet the cultural, economic, and demographic differences that divided the nation still remain. Today, the discord that resulted in five years of bloody conflict still resonates in the debates over reparations to the ancestors of former slaves and the removal of Confederate monuments.
Pulitzer Prize winning author Bruce Catton first released his book in 1960 complete with photos, maps, illustrations, captions, and an introduction by James M. McPherson, Professor Emeritus of U.S. History at Princeton University. This Kindle version (which I downloaded for free) contains none of the amplifying material, retaining only the original text. However, for anyone trying to understand the underlying causes of the war; the attitudes, desires, and fears from both sides, as well as the major events, places, or key military and political figures involved, there is no better reference material. There are certainly voluminous works by many noted historians on the subject, and for those who want detailed analysis of the politics, military campaigns, battles, strategies and tactics, they should most certainly be read.
Catton synopsizes this information in a manner that is deeply insightful, easy to read and understand. It isn’t so bogged down in details that it becomes a challenge to comprehend and a labor to complete. It is a concise overview of the social, political, and military forces that propelled the nation to war, tore it apart, and despite decades of efforts to heal those wounds, left a legacy of racial division and cultural misunderstanding that continues to impact our politics and our interaction with one another.
I highly recommend the book regardless of where you are in your study of America’s Civil War. It can serve as an introduction to your reading or a very important companion piece to the books you’ve already read on the subject.
Pulitzer Prize winning author Bruce Catton first released his book in 1960 complete with photos, maps, illustrations, captions, and an introduction by James M. McPherson, Professor Emeritus of U.S. History at Princeton University. This Kindle version (which I downloaded for free) contains none of the amplifying material, retaining only the original text. However, for anyone trying to understand the underlying causes of the war; the attitudes, desires, and fears from both sides, as well as the major events, places, or key military and political figures involved, there is no better reference material. There are certainly voluminous works by many noted historians on the subject, and for those who want detailed analysis of the politics, military campaigns, battles, strategies and tactics, they should most certainly be read.
Catton synopsizes this information in a manner that is deeply insightful, easy to read and understand. It isn’t so bogged down in details that it becomes a challenge to comprehend and a labor to complete. It is a concise overview of the social, political, and military forces that propelled the nation to war, tore it apart, and despite decades of efforts to heal those wounds, left a legacy of racial division and cultural misunderstanding that continues to impact our politics and our interaction with one another.
I highly recommend the book regardless of where you are in your study of America’s Civil War. It can serve as an introduction to your reading or a very important companion piece to the books you’ve already read on the subject.
September 20, 2020
History Comes To Life!
Mr. Catton gives an overview of America’s Civil War, describing some of the issues and episodes leading up to the beginning of the war. He makes a poignant observation when he says that when war
came both sides were highly enthusiastic and convinced that it would be over in six weeks!
His research and attention to detail are impeccable.
All the major battles and many minor ones are described in detail. All of the commanding generals and their actions in battle are mentioned. The backgrounds of many are told;reasons are given for their successes and failures as commanders.
Mr. Catton discusses the results of Lincoln’s assassination regarding the reconstruction of the nation. He gives two reasons for the abandonment of Lincoln’s plan for gentle reconstruction:
1. Radical Republicans like Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton persuaded the nation that the Southern government spy network remnants planned the assassination.
2. President Andrew Johnson was too politically naive and lacked the strong backing to oppose effectively the Radical Republicans.
I strongly recommend this book it is well researched and even handed.
In short history comes to life in The American Heritage History of the Civil War!
♥️✝️🐑✡️♥️
Mr. Catton gives an overview of America’s Civil War, describing some of the issues and episodes leading up to the beginning of the war. He makes a poignant observation when he says that when war
came both sides were highly enthusiastic and convinced that it would be over in six weeks!
His research and attention to detail are impeccable.
All the major battles and many minor ones are described in detail. All of the commanding generals and their actions in battle are mentioned. The backgrounds of many are told;reasons are given for their successes and failures as commanders.
Mr. Catton discusses the results of Lincoln’s assassination regarding the reconstruction of the nation. He gives two reasons for the abandonment of Lincoln’s plan for gentle reconstruction:
1. Radical Republicans like Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton persuaded the nation that the Southern government spy network remnants planned the assassination.
2. President Andrew Johnson was too politically naive and lacked the strong backing to oppose effectively the Radical Republicans.
I strongly recommend this book it is well researched and even handed.
In short history comes to life in The American Heritage History of the Civil War!
♥️✝️🐑✡️♥️
September 26, 2024
I’ve always been fascinated by the story of the Civil War and this book brought to life that story in remarkable detail. I commend the authors for putting together a comprehensive and well thought out volume.
What this book accomplished for me personally was learning about the different people who involved, especially the generals on both sides of the war. I enjoyed reading about the various military campaigns carry out by both sides. One of the things I found interesting was the detail given to general Sherman’s campaign in Georgia. The authors described the tremendous destruction that was wrought on Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah. The fact that Sherman knew that many of his troops participating in the burning and destroying of property along the route that his army took, but that he did not take action against those who participated in this extracurricular activity, shed some light on the general’s attitude toward the south.
I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in American history to read this book. It is a relatively easy read and only 160 pages..
What this book accomplished for me personally was learning about the different people who involved, especially the generals on both sides of the war. I enjoyed reading about the various military campaigns carry out by both sides. One of the things I found interesting was the detail given to general Sherman’s campaign in Georgia. The authors described the tremendous destruction that was wrought on Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah. The fact that Sherman knew that many of his troops participating in the burning and destroying of property along the route that his army took, but that he did not take action against those who participated in this extracurricular activity, shed some light on the general’s attitude toward the south.
I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in American history to read this book. It is a relatively easy read and only 160 pages..
July 27, 2024
American Heritage History of the Civil War focuses on the military campaigns and to a lesser extent on the politics of the war. I liked following the battles on a National Geographic Civil War Battle Map to visualize the army movements and the geography that determined much of the battlefield strategy. The Ebook has no maps or pictures but has most of the text of the hardcover American Heritage Pictorial History of the Civil War.
August 3, 2018
Concise & well written
This was an excellent short history of the Civil War. It jas good insight into the deeper issues that led to the war, the complexity of values & commitments at play on both sides, & the ways on which the war changed America at many levels. Catton's writing style is very readable & moving.
This was an excellent short history of the Civil War. It jas good insight into the deeper issues that led to the war, the complexity of values & commitments at play on both sides, & the ways on which the war changed America at many levels. Catton's writing style is very readable & moving.
August 14, 2023
Great Civil War Overview
This book is great for the reader who wants a general understanding of the Civil War; key figures and battles. I would advocate this book be added to James McPherson’s Battlecry for Freedom and Shelby Footes Civil War trilogy however, for a more detailed understanding.
This book is great for the reader who wants a general understanding of the Civil War; key figures and battles. I would advocate this book be added to James McPherson’s Battlecry for Freedom and Shelby Footes Civil War trilogy however, for a more detailed understanding.
February 21, 2021
Outstanding!
One of the best books about the war that I have ever read. In a narrative that wastes little time in partisan speculations or immaterial asides. The authors disentangle and lay bare all thec
One of the best books about the war that I have ever read. In a narrative that wastes little time in partisan speculations or immaterial asides. The authors disentangle and lay bare all thec
July 1, 2021
A succinct summary of what happened
Reading this excellent review of the Civil War taught me much about the why, the actions and the repercussions of America’s most tragic war. A serious read, but one that is easy to follow and seamless. It explains much.
Reading this excellent review of the Civil War taught me much about the why, the actions and the repercussions of America’s most tragic war. A serious read, but one that is easy to follow and seamless. It explains much.
October 22, 2019
Very good overview of the Civil War, particularly the politics of slavery.
March 1, 2020
Returned by Kindle. A good read. Enjoy!
October 9, 2021
Bruce Catton gives a brief overview of the Civil War. It is read rather dryly which almost lost me. Luckily, it was short.
June 17, 2022
Great introduction to the topic. When it come to civil war you have to go to the older books for fair&balanced information.
July 4, 2024
This is a very good, complete history of the Civil War.
March 24, 2025
This book provides a great overview of the events of the Civil War and some of the underlying issues. I can see myself recommending this as a primer for anyone wanting to learn more. I have trouble keeping all the battle straight but I'm not sure if I'll ever have them all down. It doesn't cover every relevant topic but does a lot with a few pages.
October 10, 2015
Brings reason to an unreasonable time in our nation.
The battles are all there but mostly as why they took place and the political consequences. A good cross between history and an interesting story.
The battles are all there but mostly as why they took place and the political consequences. A good cross between history and an interesting story.
October 13, 2018
It's an entire history of the Civil War, but condensed and written for lesser knowledgeable people. That said, it fills an important niche for people interested and curious about that war but who either don't have extensive knowledge or don't want deeper treatment.
August 6, 2025
Outstanding
Bruce Carson's inimical turn of phrases sparkle like scattered jewels. And the clear description of the battles, a!omg with compassionate descriptions of ordinary life behind the lines, make this a powerful account of our great national tragedy. Highly recommended!
Bruce Carson's inimical turn of phrases sparkle like scattered jewels. And the clear description of the battles, a!omg with compassionate descriptions of ordinary life behind the lines, make this a powerful account of our great national tragedy. Highly recommended!
November 25, 2016
This was OK for a summary with respect to the battles, but fell short on the politics of the time.
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