Writing the Civil War: The Quest to Understand

by James M. McPherson (Editor), William J. Cooper, Jr. (Editor)

Studies diverse topics on the writing of Civil War history

No event has transformed the United States more fundamentally—or been studied more exhaustively—than the Civil War. In Writing the Civil War, fourteen distinguished historians present a wide-ranging examination of the vast effort to chronicle the conflict—an undertaking that began with the remembrances of Civil War veterans and has become an increasingly prolific field of scholarship. Covering topics from battlefield operations to the impact of race and gender, this volume is an informative guide through the labyrinth of Civil War literature. The contributors provide authoritative and interpretive evaluations of the study and explication of the struggle that has been called the American Iliad.

The first four essays consider military Joseph Thomas Glatthaar writes on battlefield tactics, Gary W. Gallagher on Union strategy, Emory M. Thomas on Confederate strategy, and Reid Mitchell on soldiers. In essays that focus on political concerns, Mark E. Neely, Jr. links the military and political with his examination of presidential leadership, while Michael F. Holt surveys the study of Union politics, and George C. Rable examines the work on Confederate politics. Michael Les Benedict bridges political and societal concerns in his discussion of constitutional questions; Phillip Shaw Paludan and james L. roark confront the broad themes of economics and society in the North and South; and Drew Gilpin Faust and Peter Kolchin evaluate the importance of gender, slavery, and race relations.

Writing the Civil War demonstrates the richness and diversity of Civil War scholarship and identifies topics yet to be explored. Noting a surprising dearth of scholarship in several area, the essays point to new directions in the quest to understand the complexities of the most momentous event in American history.

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, American History, War

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

James M. McPherson, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University, 1963; B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, Minnesota), 1958) is an American Civil War historian, and the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book. He was the president of the American Historical Association in 2003, and is a member of the editorial board of Encyclopædia Britannica.

Reviews

[Mark Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of twelve essays on the history of Civil War history a.k.a. historiography. Published in 1998, each essay by a distinguished historian examines the latest literature on a particular subject such as battlefield tactics, Lincoln versus Davis as leaders, and others on politics, economics, and slavery. Each chapter contains suggestions for further reading. I would recommend this to serious students of the American Civil War.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Civil War historiography,unfortunately it's twenty years old.

[Jen]

I found this gem in Gettysburg! The Gettysburg bookstore had a multitude of Civil War history books, but this was the only one that discussed the process of writing war history.