A review by gregbrown
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson

5.0

Incredible, panoramic look at the Civil War that rightly spends over 250 pages before Fort Sumter examining the state of the country and factors that led to the conflict. Once the fighting starts it kinda drags with descriptions of the battles and either side freaking out or rejoicing at every loss or victory, but I suppose that’s more the fault of the actual history and its participants than McPherson. Would have liked to see a bit more about what was going on in California and out west during the war, but probably a subject better covered in the subsequent volume since it didn’t have any major causal influence on the course of the conflict.