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| Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States) | 
| Author: James M. Mcpherson
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $6.94
You Save: $13.01 (65%)
New (37) Collectible (8) from $9.68
Avg. Customer Rating:  180 reviews
Sales Rank: 5398
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 952
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 019516895X
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.73
EAN: 9780195168952
ASIN: 019516895X
Publication Date: December 11, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Dale October 8, 2008
I own over 500 Civil War books and this is by the best. It's very detailed, but still very interesting. I would recommend this book to an individual wanting to know something about the Civil War or to an individual already very knowledgeable on the Civil War.
 Kindle Edition has problems August 22, 2008
This review is purely as to the flaws of the Kindle transfer -- the book itself is a masterpiece I've reread with pleasure on paper over the years. Unfortunately the transfer is a rough scanned-PDF type that is MUCH harder to read than other Kindle books. Caveat Emptor.
Excellent August 14, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is full of infomation about the times of the Civil War. Very informative about why things happened. Excellent.
 Marred by political correctness July 26, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Yes, this is an excellent political history. But it is marred by political correctness. The culture of American Indians was "vital," we learn, and all Indians are treated strictly as victims. Southerners are almost without exception villainous. Little is said of Lincoln's view of the alleged inferiority of blacks before 1860. And there is no mention of Nat Turner!
Perhaps the author had no choice, given the nature of academia today. I continue to prefer earlier versions of American history, without the PC.
If you read one book on the civil war July 17, 2008
If you wanted to read just one book to get an understanding of the Civil War and its effects on the United States, you could do little better than James PcPherson's book. It is an intimidating book at over 800 pages. This thickness comes from the fact that the book does not just cover the battles from 1861 through 1865, but examines the political war that took place long before the armed conflict continued the "politics through other means".
The book has a fascinating focus on the political dimension that may distract from those solely interested in a tactical account of the battles. There are ample books that look into greater detail of the personalities of the generals and the intricacies of the individual battles. The Battle Cry of Freedom covers these battles and their key points, but this is not the focus of this book.
Where this book is unique in other civil war books that I have read is its treatment of the political-military aspect of the war. It has an excellent examination of the political situations that gave rise to the Republican party and the debates between radicals and moderates even within this party. It goes to great lengths examining how the democratic party, whig party, no-nothings and numerous other parties influenced the political scene.
During the war this political examination gives great treatment to the political challenges that both leaders, Lincoln and Davis, faced within their governments and how they tackled issues that are eerily familiar today - the legality and constitutionality of war and the suspicion of civil liberties (to include habeas corpus) during war.
McPherson closes his book with a very well reasoned look at how the civil war altered the course of the nation and made us the nation we are today, versus the union that we were before. While there are fascinating studies of the leadership and battles of the armed conflict, this books places these studies within the larger context that is crucial to anyone who wants to have a full understanding of the Civil War and what it truly meant to American civilization and culture.
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