Writing the Civil War

The Quest to Understand

James M. McPherson, William J. Cooper, James M. McPherson, William J. Cooper, Jr.

• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781570033896, 9781570032592
• eBook ISBN: 9781643362212
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

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 history: 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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• WRITING THE CIVIL WAR
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• BLUEPRINT FOR VICTORY Northern Strategy and Military Policy
• REBELLION AND CONVENTIONAL WARFARE Confederate Strategy and Military Policy
• BATTLEFIELD TACTICS
• "NOT THE GENERAL BUT THE SOLDIER" The Study of Civil War Soldiers
• ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. JEFFERSON DAVIS Comparing Presidential Leadership in the Civil War
• AN ELUSIVE SYNTHESIS Northern Politics during the Civil War
• BEYOND STATE RIGHTS The Shadowy World of Confederate Politics
• A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
• WHAT DID THE WINNERS WIN? The Social and Economic History of the North during the Civil War
• BEHIND THE LINES Confederate Economy and Society
• "OURS AS WELL AS THAT OF THE MEN" Women and Gender in the Civil War
• SLAVERY AND FREEDOM IN THE CIVIL WAR SOUTH
• Notes
• Contributors
• Index
• ABOUT THE EDITORS