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mamatoca's review
informative
fast-paced
3.5
Dissemination of the author's study of civil war soldiers' letters. First section on the Confederacy. Second, the Union. The last section looks at the issue of slavery in letters from both sides.
rebeccatc's review
4.0
There is a persistent suggestion that the South did not fight the Civil War to preserve slavery. This is most obviously belied by the Articles of Secession, which nearly all cite slavery to justify the act, but also by the journals and letters of Civil War soldiers written in the "immediacy of their experience." This author surveys an impressive collection of such writings and presents his findings objectively.
"Emancipation was a salient issue for Union soldiers because it was controversial. Slavery was not salient for Confederate soldiers during most of the war because it was not controversial. They took slavery for granted as part of the southern way of life for which they fought, and did not feel compelled to discuss it. Although only 20 percent of the soldiers avowed explicit proslavery purposes in their letters and diaries, none at all dissented from that view."
"Emancipation was a salient issue for Union soldiers because it was controversial. Slavery was not salient for Confederate soldiers during most of the war because it was not controversial. They took slavery for granted as part of the southern way of life for which they fought, and did not feel compelled to discuss it. Although only 20 percent of the soldiers avowed explicit proslavery purposes in their letters and diaries, none at all dissented from that view."
lcdthethird's review
3.0
A great hour long read that helps you understand the reasons the North and South went to war. McPherson with the help of the thousands of soldier letters he read shows what the soldiers on the battlefield thought of fighting their neighbors and what they believed they were going to war for.
therealbobcat's review
3.0
The type of book where it wasn't the greatest or most engaging read ever, but I'm very glad that I read it.
homosexual's review
3.0
Overall this is very insightful, but still I would’ve like more from the actual letters since this is so short. It feels like we hardly got to know “what they fought for” with such a small sample size, that always got followed with “but this was the minority in comparison to x”
at least I learned a few things I guess
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