Listen Legally to Best Full Audiobooks in History, American

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Title: On Hallowed Ground

Subtitle: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery

Author: Robert M. Poole

Narrator: Robert M. Poole

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-25-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 181 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

More than just a fascinating account of how Arlington came into being at the end of the Civil War, On Hallowed Ground also tells the story of America as reflected in her greatest national cemetery. The history of the land on which the cemetery is built is as varied as our nation's, evolving from its earliest days as Robert E. Lee's ancestral home to a Union headquarters, a haven for freedmen, and finally a burial ground. Robert Poole also shows how the landscape of Arlington changed along with our democracy. Originally segregated by race and rank, the organization of the plots alone tells a complex story.

Poole conducted new interviews exclusively for this audio edition of On Hallowed Ground, featuring a range of key players in the cemetery's history and day-to-day operations. He spoke with Wayne Parks, great grandson of the slaves owned by Robert E. Lee's family and the first cemetery groundskeeper; Gunnery Sergeant William J. Dixon, a Marine and Iraq war veteran who oversees the quality control of Marine funerals at Arlington; and Linda Willey, chairperson of the Arlington Ladies Committee for the Air Force, who makes sure that there is a civilian present at every Air Force funeral. Our edition of On Hallowed Ground features highlights from these and other interviews, as well as more exclusive material, including a rendition of "Taps" played by the Army's principal bugler.

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Editorial Reviews:

Robert E. Lee had made up his mind. If Virginia secedes from the Union, then I will still follow my native state with my sword, and if need be with my life. Lees home was Arlington House, the 1,100-acre estate inherited by his wife, Mary Ann Custis Lee (great-granddaughter to Martha Washington and step-great-granddaughter to George Washington). Arlington has a commanding view above the nations capital, Washington, at its height rising to over 200 feet above the surrounding area. Topology guaranteed that the Union military would seize and hold this most vital strategic high ground. The Civil War came and quickly the graveyards of Washington began filling up. Soon the fallen Union warriors would be buried at Arlington. These were the first in a series of events that over time would transform the Lee Arlington estate into Arlington National Cemetery.

On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery is a comprehensive history, written and narrated by a man with a passion for places of historical importance. For 21 years Robert M. Poole was a writer and editor of National Geographic and currently is a contributing editor at Smithsonian. Poole, in a Smithsonian interview states, I am keen on the biography of places in other words, how a particular piece of geography evolves over time, taking on its own distinctive character. A native of North Carolina with attractive shades of a Southern accent, Poole narrates with the scholars scope of understanding and the patriots reverence for the subject. The audiobook producers have expanded the books print edition, adding additional material with six narrative voices. Very interesting voices they are; six people, each with close ties to Arlington National Cemetery and each with their own Arlington stories to tell. These narratives are mixed in with Pooles, somewhat in the way side quotes are injected alongside magazine and newspaper articles.

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Title: 1920

Subtitle: The Year of Six Presidents

Author: David Pietrusza

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-11-09

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 150 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The presidential election of 1920 was among history's most dramatic. Six once-and-future presidents--Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt--jockeyed for the White House. With voters choosing between Wilson's League of Nations and Harding's front-porch isolationism, the 1920 election shaped modern America. Women won the vote. Republicans outspent Democrats by 4 to 1, as voters witnessed the first extensive newsreel coverage, modern campaign advertising, and results broadcast on radio. America had become an urban nation: Automobiles, mass production, chain stores, and easy credit transformed the economy. 1920 paints a vivid portrait of America, beset by the Red Scare, jailed dissidents, Prohibition, smoke-filled rooms, bomb-throwing terrorists, and the Klan, gingerly crossing modernity's threshold.

©2008 David Pietrusza; (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews:

"Narrator Paul Boehmer involves himself and listeners by employing subtle emotions. One can hear appropriate inflectionssadness, joy, and petulancein his words. His sentences flow into a comfortable narrative that sometimes includes poetry. Not resorting to any vocal characterization, he distinguishes the quotations with short pauses." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

A fascinating view into the US at the end of WWI

This book by David Pietrusza is a fascinating view into US politics, and related social conditions, in the decade of WWI. Readers will learn much about Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Teddy Roosevelt, Eugene Debs, FDR and a broad cast of other main and supporting characters. Pietrusza uses the election of 1920 as the lever for putting all of these characters together, although much of the book's story really isn't dependent on that event.

Critical reviewers of a book like this typically call the thing "sprawling," by which they mean it is only loosely connected together, and perhaps a bit superficial in parts. And that might be a fair characterization of this book. But as long as you understand it is "sprawling" going in, not a scholarly work and not a narrowly circumscribed, in-depth work, you can enjoy it for the way in which it describes America (its despicable politics of that day, along with some admirable characters it would be cool to meet face-to-face) in the teens and twenties.

The book is well-written (if sprawling) and very well narrated. My interest did not abate even though it is overlong.

All wanted the presidency...

Now this is a book that links men of different political aspirations and regional persuasions to all collide around 1920. The author connects the men through the links to the office of the president. Included in this book are interesting tidbits about each man, such as a thorough background on Herbert Hoover, --who knew his was a geologist by trade and spent quite a bit of time in China early in his career? The book is packed with all kinds of threads between men and how their presence changed the course of American history.

After reading this book I became more interested in finding out more in depth information on three of the men detailed, especially Woodrow Wilson.

Really enjoyed it!

6 President's alive at the beginning of 1920!

What did you love best about 1920?

Each chapter was an individual history lesson.

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Title: The American Civil War

Subtitle: A Military History

Author: John Keegan

Narrator: Robin Sachs

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-06-09

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 144 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Now Keegan examines these and other puzzles with a peerless understanding of warfare, uncovering dimensions of the conflict that have eluded earlier historiography.

While offering original and perceptive insights into psychology, ideology, demographics, and economics, Keegan reveals the war's hidden shape - a consequence of leadership, the evolution of strategic logic, and, above all, geography, the Rosetta Stone of his legendary decipherments of all great battles.

The American topography, Keegan argues, presented a battle space of complexity and challenges virtually unmatched before or since. Out of a succession of mythic but chaotic engagements, he weaves an irresistible narrative illuminated with comparisons to the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and other conflicts.

The American Civil War is sure to be hailed as a definitive account of its eternally fascinating subject.

Members Reviews:

A Novel Approach (As Opposed to Novelistic)

I had to listen to this two or three times with half an ear before I appreciated Keegan's cunning arrangement of the story. It is not a straight narrative, does not compete directly with the 119-course meals of Shelby Foote and Bruce Catton. It does not arrange the story in a linear timeline like a choo-choo train (THIS happened and then THIS happened...). No, it's done in the style of a digressive essay, like a long book review. Keegan spends most of the first half dilating upon the topics that most interest him: 19th Century American culture in general, Southern civilization vs Northern, the variances in technological development, the astounding spottiness of topographical knowledge (basically, maps that were poor or nonexistent), the prosperity and ease of the old-stock middle class, and in general how strange and novel American civilization appeared to those from the Old World.

Perhaps only an English military historian could handle this with the detachment that Keegan shows. This is not to say he shows no biases at all; he definitely faults the South for being technologically deficient and maybe culturally backward; and he thinks the world of Abraham Lincoln. But this is just a function of using a book-review idiom, in which one accepts the conventional outlook overall, while reserving creative insight for one's one narrow and favorite specialties. Thus when discussing strategy in the many theaters of war, Keegan comes back again and again to his own pet methodologies, analyzing the problems of managing a war over a vast terrain that no one comprehended very well, and comparing the topographical problems of waging battles in Tidewater Virginia versus the campaigns in the trans-Appalachian West. Again and again it's mainly an issue of good maps and efficient geopolitical outlook, much as in the First World War.

The performance is pretty good. The mispronunciations of place names (mainly "Po-to-mack" for Potomac) is amusing and forgivable, given the British actor during the narration.

Missing pages

What would have made The American Civil War better?

If the latter portion of page 124, the entirety of page 125 and the first portion of page 126 had been included in the audio.

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Title: The Last Man On the Moon

Author: Eugene Cernan

Narrator: Eugene Cernan

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-24-09

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 141 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

This is the inside story of how space was conquered, and at what price. Cernan writes candidly not only about the program, but about the high divorce rate among the astronauts, the loss of family privacy that came with celebrity, and the ever-present shadows of death and failure.

Members Reviews:

Yet Another Perspective

There are points in this book in which Cernan describes being on the moon and a VIBE comes across that is truly amazing. I have read/listened to many different accounts of the Apollo missions, but there is something about this one by Cernan that really stuck with me. Much of what he writes I already knew about, but the bits that I hadn't heard of - and especially, the "vibe" - made this book a real treat to listen to.

Sometimes it's better to let someone else narrate an author's work, however this isn't one of those times. Cernan's own voice adds a lot to the experience.

Gene Cernan is the man!

Very easy to follow, a little sparse on technical information but that's just my personal preference, not a reflection of the quality of this book. Would definitely recommend.

Great story of Apollo, emphasis on Apollo 17

I was a teenager when Apollo 17 landed. The Apollo years were a time of great excitement for exploration. Mr. Cernan does a great job telling the story from the inside. The public saw beautifully executed missions. But we didn't know about the risks and uncertainty which were a part of the space program.

The book brings us into the Apollo program, making it much more personal. Especially the flight of Apollo 17 with Cernan at the helm.

Great Read - Great Listen

I have researched and followed the various programs that led to the Apollo missions. Many of the astronauts have written books and shared their own perspectives. I find it great to listen to Gene Himself,and that his perspective is very well balanced. Not as much as "First Man" perhaps,but an excellent book!

excellent book & loved eugene cernan's narration

great book, learned even more about mercury, gemini, and apollo missions and absolutely loved Gene Cernan narrating his book because it makes the story come even more alive

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Title: The State of Jones

Subtitle: The Small Southern County that Seceded from the Confederacy

Author: John Stauffer, Sally Jenkins

Narrator: Don Leslie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 06-23-09

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 99 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The State of Jones is a true story about the South during the Civil War, the real South. Not the South that has been mythologized in novels and movies, but an authentic, hardscrabble place where poor men were forced to fight a rich man's war for slavery and cotton. In Jones County, Mississippi, a farmer named Newton Knight led his neighbors, white and black alike, in an insurrection against the Confederacy at the height of the Civil War. Knight's life story mirrors the little-known story of class struggle in the South and it shatters the image of the Confederacy as a unified front against the Union.

This riveting investigative account takes us inside the battle of Corinth, where thousands lost their lives over less than a quarter mile of land, and to the dreadful siege of Vicksburg, presenting a gritty picture of a war in which generals sacrificed thousands through their arrogance and ignorance. Off the battlefield, the Newton Knight story is rich in drama as well. He was a man with two loves: his wife, who was forced to flee her home simply to survive, and an ex-slave named Rachel, who, in effect, became his second wife. It was Rachel who cared for Knight during the war when he was hunted by the Confederates, and, later, when members of the Knight clan sought revenge for the disgrace he had brought upon the family name.

Working hand in hand with John Stauffer, distinguished chair and professor of the History of American Civilization at Harvard University, Sally Jenkins has made the leap from preeminent sportswriter to a historical writer endowed with the accuracy, drive, and passion of Doris Kearns Goodwin. The result is Civil War history at its finest.

Editorial Reviews:

Don Leslie has created a masterpiece of narration that lifts The State of Jones to an audio experience of the very highest caliber. Leslie has a deep voice and an exceptional range of expression; most notably, he narrates this book with emphatic passion. And he has a very interesting technique of constantly marking emphases: he puts strong stress on selected words, creating a powerful narrative flow.

Members Reviews:

A must read for Civil War and history buffs

This was a very interesting story about Southern rebellion, Mississippi natives fighting against the Confederacy that is. The story is well written and interesting.

Confederate Insurrection-Rebellion against Rebels

This book recounts the fascinating story of the insurrection against the Confederate States of America led by Newton Knight and his band of Civil War guerillas residing in Jones County, Mississippi. The history leading up to the insurrection, like most such rebellions, is complex, but it relates in large part to a class conflict; Jones County was not a heavily agricultural county and many of its citizens said they didn't want to fight the plantation/slave owners' war for them. Knight was injured during the war and decided to go AWOL, came back to Jones County and caused hell for the Confederate forces.

This was quite a drama, including an illicit love affair between Newt Knight (married at the time it started) and Rachel Knight, a slave of his father, worthy of retelling through historical fiction, be it movie or novel. The two had children together and became common law husband and wife.

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Title: In Retrospect

Subtitle: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam

Author: Robert S. McNamara

Narrator: Robert S. McNamara (preface), Joseph Campanella

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-19-09

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 70 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In the years since he resigned his office, he has until now refused any public comment on the unpopular war with which he was so thoroughly identified. Drawing on his personal experience and a wealth of documentation, McNamara presents a classic insider account of how Vietnam policy grew, of exactly how we stumbled into the war and exactly why it quickly became almost impossible to pull out.

Both personal and historic, his account reveals the trials of leadership, of how a generation's "best and brightest" led our nation into tragedy, and what we can learn from their mistakes.

Members Reviews:

What a mess things were...

Overall, a good book, but only the introduction is read by McNamara. I was hoping to hear the story in the author's own voice. A good feel for just how screwed up things were in early Vietnam.

A Cautionary Tale

All too often descriptions of the failures of those who waged the Vietnam War achieve patent superficiality and ignore the context of the real threats being balanced before and during the Vietnam War.

McNamara's memoir is an honest, if frustrating assessment of his and his colleagues' handling of the Vietnam War. A tragic tale of ignorance and misjudgment that should have been heeded prior to our most recent foray into Iraq and Afghanistan.

We called it McNamara's war for a reason

Especially interesting for those who lived during the 1960s and protested the 'police action', this apology of a sort by Robert McNamara made me more angry than informed. All over again. What a terrible time it was....and here we are doing it all over again.

I suposed it ought to have been written before the Middle East wars so that something could be learned but I'm sure no one would pay attention to the points that McNamara brings to the table.

I'm glad I listened to the book once-but I'd never give it 2 listens.

good man, good reflection, good read

necessary read to help understand why we went to war and cause of such heart break and loss throughout our country.

An ok read.

This book was interesting because of its historical content. McNamara's realization that involvement in Vietnam was a mistake took courage to admit. Unfortunately it comes several decades too late for those brave people that gave their lives and those that carry the scars of battle today.

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Title: Plain, Honest Men

Subtitle: The Making of the American Constitution

Author: Richard Beeman

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-04-09

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 153 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Audiences will come to appreciate the challenges that the Founding Fathers faced in creating a form of government that, while imperfect in many respects, nevertheless approaches, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, "so near to perfection as it does."

Members Reviews:

Grand Narrative

If you ever wanted to clearly understand what really occurred when the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia, this is the book for you. I was not too enthralled by the first few pages of the narrator's voice, but as time passed, I began to like the pace, and lack of enthusiasm in his voice. This is the seminal work for looking deep into the hearts and minds of the authors of the US Constitution.

Much like Goodwin's Team of Rivals, this sweeping work has extensive source materials and uses these source materials to support the finding and lives of these very distinct men. Beeman also carries you back to what the city was like in the late 1700's, thrusting the reader into the time period whether you want to go or not. George Washington's presence at the beginning of the book signals what is about to come!

I encourage those whose tastes move in early American historical fact, this is the book for you. It is comprehensive in scope and answers those questions that you did not think to ask!

Excellent!

Who knew!

I am not a history buff in the least, however, my husband is and when we listen to books together, I select some that might interest him. This book was pretty interesting and did a nice job of telling what happened in developing the important documents and the key players involved in the process. It was interesting and enlightening to me and had a few tidbits my husband didn't know. I did finally speed up the narration as it was a bit slow on the third download part.

Good history.

I don't read a lot of history, but I have been reading a number of books about the American Revolution and its leaders. This book is a worthy entry into that group. I remember (vaguely) studying this stuff in school, and how boring it was. But this book was not boring. He made the various characters come alive, and he did a good job of making the setting real as well. I have long wondered why the Bill of Rights was not part of the original Constitution and why slavery was not eliminated. These were discussed and well answered. I had heard the Constitution referred to as the Great Compromise without understanding what it meant. Now I know (or at least know a lot more about it than I used to). The more I learn about the founding of our country and the men who made it happen, the more amazed I am that they were able to bring it off, and the more grateful I am to men who were willing to put the good of all ahead of their own personal gain. I also want to say that I have listened to a lot of books narrated by Michael Prichard, and he did his usual excellent job. I recommend this book to you.

Excellent!

A detailed and informative history of the constitution. Beeman does a good job of explaining the setting and arguments of the respective members of the convention.

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Title: The Invention of Air

Author: Steven Johnson

Narrator: Mark Deakins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-07-09

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 223 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

It is the story of Joseph Priestley - scientist and theologian, protege of Benjamin Franklin, friend of Thomas Jefferson - an 18th-century radical thinker who played pivotal roles in the invention of ecosystem science, the discovery of oxygen, the founding of the Unitarian Church, and the intellectual development of the United States. And it is a story that only Steven Johnson, acclaimed juggler of disciplines and provocative ideas, can do justice to.

In the 1780s, Priestley had established himself in his native England as a brilliant scientist, a prominent minister, and an outspoken advocate of the American Revolution, who had sustained long correspondences with Franklin, Jefferson, and John Adams. Ultimately, his radicalism made his life politically uncomfortable, and he fled to the nascent United States. Here, he was able to build conceptual bridges linking the scientific, political, and religious impulses that governed his life. And through his close relationships with the Founding Fathers - Jefferson credited Priestley as the man who prevented him from abandoning Christianity - he exerted profound if little-known influence on the shape and course of our history.

As in his last best-selling work, The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson here uses a dramatic historical story to explore themes that have long engaged him.

Members Reviews:

Good scientific history

This book looks comprehensively at the life and works of Priestley, examining the multiple influences on his work, and describing his influence on leaders of the American Revolution, including Franklin, Adams and Jefferson.

The book's main strength is its explanation of how multiple influences, including Priestley's aptitudes and education, the conventions of English coffee house society, England's easily accessible coal deposits, and luck, came together to make Priestley's work possible. Johnson argues persuasively that scientific breakthroughs depend not just on scientific tradition, experimentation and individual brilliance, but also on the political and economic environments within which scientists operate.

Johnson also contrasts the all-encompassing intellectual grasp of America's founders with the anti-intellectual stance of many of today's politicians. He claims such anti-intellectualism is therefore un-American. In doing so, however, he overlooks the anti-intellectual strains in our history dating back at least as far as the Jacksonians.

Johnson at Top of His Game

Johnson is the author of one of my favorite books of 2007 - The Ghost Map - as well as a bunch of other great science books. This is another one of those books that make me question my formal education, as despite being a U.S. history major and life-long Ben Franklin read I had not known (or remembered) anything much about Joseph Priestley. The role that Priestly played in the 18th century scientific enlightenment is a crucial one. He was a (younger) contemporary of Ben Franklin, a popularizer (like Johnson) of the work of Franklin and the other "electricians", and the discoverer of oxygen.

Priestley seems to pop up at all the key scientific and political events of the 18th century, making friends (and creating enemies) with our founding fathers. Johnson makes the point that today we are missing scientists who both take the lead in politics and religion. A religious political progressive in the form of a scientist appears to be a contradiction in our world.

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Title: Lincoln's Greatest Speech

Subtitle: The Second Inaugural

Author: Ronald C. White

Narrator: Raymond Todd

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-19-08

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

White's compelling description of Lincoln's articulation of our nation's struggle and the suffering of all - North, South, soldier, slave - offers new insight into Lincoln's own hard won victory over doubt and his promise of authority and passion. Delivered only weeks before his assassination, the speech was the culmination of Lincoln's moral and rhetorical genius.

Critic Reviews:

"Well researched and at times extraordinarily moving, White's small volume comes closer to finding the true spirit of Abraham Lincoln than many of the more celebrated biographies." (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))

"This excellent title is carefully and clearly read by Raymond Todd....Todd is respectful in his narration, using an appropriate tone throughout....His interpretation carries the reader along for a fascinating story about a very important and very short speech." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Lincoln Speaks Today

I picked up Ronald White's impressive book to learn not only about Lincoln's March 4, 1865, Second Inaugural Address, but also about persuasive speech. And learn I did. Thus, I think others who speak or write about things important will be instructed by Lincoln and White's analysis of his effective rhetoric. For them, that alone will be worth the price of the book.

But there is much more in these pages. I'm neither a Lincoln scholar nor an historian, and I'm not sure what I was expecting, but when I read histories I first check for the wide range of material the authors draw upon. I then look for the care they take not to read into their texts and sources what they want readers to hear, but to read out of them what they actually say and to tell us what they have found between the lines. I appreciated White's integrity and discipline in this regard.

I also found myself fascinated by both the president's penetrating insights into human nature and White's deft ability to spell them out. I was impressed, too, with the author's lucid descriptions of the historical setting, emotional context and profound theological influences that shaped Lincoln and his address. They helped me to identify with the president as he struggled to heal and unify the nation and to see why he approached his daunting task the way he did. Moreover, both White's competence as an historian and his training in theology helped me to understand better not only this critical American moment, but also to grasp what Lincoln's message says to us today.

When finished reading, I went to our back bedroom to be alone. I read the speech to myself several times. Then I stood at the window and looked down on the plants in our garden, envisioning them as Lincoln's inaugural audience. Then, imagining I were the president at his podium, giving his greatest speech to the war-weary people before him, I read his words aloud, trying to capture his cadence, milking his use of alliteration, and pausing to stress what I now believed he wanted to emphasize. I don't cry at the drop of a hat, but as I read the last paragraph -- "With malice toward none; with charity for all ... a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." -- my brain brought me back to our present world. Tears filled my eyes, and I could hardly finish.

Lincoln's Second, but Finest Inaugural

Ronald C.

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Title: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War

Author: H. W. Crocker III

Narrator: Bill Wallace

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-21-08

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 197 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Get ready for a rousing rebel yell as best-selling author H. W. Crocker III charges through bunkers and battlefields in The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War. Crocker busts myths and shatters stereotypes as he profiles eminent and colorful military generals, revealing little-known truths, like why Robert E. Lee had a higher regard for African-Americans than Lincoln did. Crocker culminates his tome in the most politically incorrect chapter of all: "What If the South Had Won." This is the "P.I." Guide that every Civil War buff and Southern partisan will want on their bookshelf, in their classroom, and under their Christmas tree.

©2008 H. W. Crocker III; (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Members Reviews:

The American Civil War Made Simple

Contrary to the title's suggestion, there's very little in this title than I would rank as Politically Incorrect. I would however recommend this audiobook unreservedly to anyone with even a passing interest in America's Civil War. The book is well written, divided neatly between battles and personalities and well read.

Do Two Wrongs Make a Right?

American history suffers from two great stains: Slavery and the Civil War/War Between the States/War of Southern Succession/War of Northern Aggression. What name you choose reflects your conclusion about the war. Perhaps the Europeans have it best. They call it the "American War."

Most war history is not only the victor's history, but it is also colored by the result of the war, which can obscure the causes of the war. This is the author's main argument: that the war to preserve the Union has been recast as the war to end slavery, thus making the war a noble cause. The war indeed did end slavery, but its causes and the sentiments of the participants were far more complex. The exploration of this complexity is the politically incorrect aim of the book: That while slavery was of course immoral, so too was this war -- perhaps even more so. And without this war, slavery may have ended in a manner far better for everyone, including the slaves.

In the victor's history the loser is vilified. Among these villains we have a large proportion of people who were highly regarded prior to the war, and even after the war, including the grandsons of many of the country's founding fathers. What motivated these noble countrymen? What motivated the Union leaders? The answers do not correspond with a politically correct noble war to end slavery. The answers point to a stain in American history as dark as the stain of slavery.

While it can be said that this book is about the war from the Confederate point of view, it's really about the war from a point of view that considers many moral issues other than just slavery. If you are open to exploring this complexity, you will enjoy this book.

Civil War from the Southern Point of View

A balanced look back at the thoughts and feelings of the South before, during and after the Civil War. Nice review of the strengths and weaknesses of the Generals for both sides.

Not as unPC as the title suggests.

Any additional comments?

Despite its title, there isn't much controversial here. (That is assuming you're not one of the very few who think the Civil War was just about a benevolent and liberating Northern force fighting to free slaves from a bigoted, hateful South.).