Ebook The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur
Locate more experiences and also knowledge by checking out guide entitled The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur This is an e-book that you are looking for, isn't really it? That's right. You have pertained to the ideal site, then. We always give you The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur and also the most favourite publications worldwide to download and install as well as appreciated reading. You may not overlook that seeing this set is a purpose and even by unintended.
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur
Ebook The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur
Spend your time even for only couple of mins to check out an e-book The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur Checking out a publication will never ever minimize and squander your time to be worthless. Checking out, for some folks come to be a demand that is to do on a daily basis such as spending time for consuming. Now, just what about you? Do you like to review an e-book? Now, we will certainly reveal you a new e-book qualified The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur that can be a new means to discover the expertise. When reading this book, you could obtain one thing to consistently keep in mind in every reading time, also tip by step.
The means to obtain this publication The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur is extremely easy. You might not go for some areas and spend the moment to just discover guide The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur Actually, you may not always get guide as you're willing. But right here, just by search and find The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur, you can get the lists of the books that you truly anticipate. In some cases, there are numerous books that are showed. Those books of course will impress you as this The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur compilation.
Are you considering primarily books The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur If you are still confused on which one of the book The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur that ought to be acquired, it is your time to not this site to search for. Today, you will need this The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur as one of the most referred publication and also the majority of needed book as resources, in other time, you could appreciate for other publications. It will rely on your prepared needs. Yet, we consistently suggest that books The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur can be a great infestation for your life.
Also we discuss the books The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur; you may not discover the published publications right here. Numerous collections are provided in soft file. It will exactly provide you a lot more benefits. Why? The very first is that you may not have to bring guide almost everywhere by satisfying the bag with this The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur It is for the book remains in soft documents, so you could wait in gadget. After that, you could open the gadget everywhere as well as check out guide appropriately. Those are some few perks that can be obtained. So, take all advantages of getting this soft file publication The Civil War: A Concise History, By Louis P. Masur in this website by downloading and install in web link given.
One hundred and fifty years after the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, the Civil War still captures the American imagination, and its reverberations can still be felt throughout America's social and political landscape.
Louis P. Masur's The Civil War: A Concise History offers a masterful and eminently readable overview of the war's multiple causes and catastrophic effects. Masur begins by examining the complex origins of the war, focusing on the pulsating tensions over states rights and slavery. The book then proceeds to cover, year by year, the major political, social, and military events, highlighting two important themes: how the war shifted from a limited conflict to restore the Union to an all-out war that would fundamentally transform Southern society, and the process by which the war ultimately became a battle to abolish slavery. Masur explains how the war turned what had been a loose collection of fiercely independent states into a nation, remaking its political, cultural, and social institutions. But he also focuses on the soldiers themselves, both Union and Confederate, whose stories constitute nothing less than America's Iliad. In the final chapter Masur considers the aftermath of the South's surrender at Appomattox and the clash over the policies of reconstruction that continued to divide President and Congress, conservatives and radicals, Southerners and Northerners for years to come.
In 1873, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley wrote that the war had "wrought so profoundly upon the entire national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or three generations." From the vantage of the war's sesquicentennial, this concise history of the entire Civil War era offers an invaluable introduction to the dramatic events whose effects are still felt today.
- Sales Rank: #215312 in Books
- Published on: 2011-02-10
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 5.70" h x .80" w x 8.40" l, .62 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 136 pages
From Booklist
*Starred Review* As the sesquicentennial of the outbreak of the Civil War approaches, foresighted librarians will need to be prepared for their own Fort Sumter siege by patrons with either new or renewed interest in that terrible conflict’s causes and course of events. For the reader uneasy with any study more than general-interest, this book is the first one that the anticipating librarian should place in such a person’s hands. It is an immaculate overview that quickly gets to the heart of the matter, precisely surveying, with keen insight, the slippery slope to war’s outbreak, which was paved with increasingly bitter opposing views on slavery and states’ rights and territorial expansion; along the way, the concept of nullification added its own coat of slipperiness. By the 1850s, “clearly, the political system was breaking down, unable to contain sectional rivalry and violence.” Moving year by year but not ploddingly, as that mode might suggest, Masur charts the ebb and flow of Union and Confederate successes. In wrapping up, the author’s clear view of Reconstruction brings the process of settlement well into the latter part of the century. --Brad Hooper
Review
"Masur's pocket-sized chronological account of the Civil War packs a powerful punch It is hard to overstate this accomplishment, as so many have tried before and failed." --H-Net
"A short history of the Civil War is a daunting task to say the least, so complex and wide-ranging is the story, yet Louis P. Masur has accomplished the task not only with remarkable all-inclusiveness, but with considerable perception, and not a little genuine eloquence. The result is surely the finest account in brief compass that we have." -- William C. Davis, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, Virginia Tech
"Louis P. Masur has done a splendid job of explaining why the Civil War came, how it unfolded, and what Union victory meant. His ability to bring clarity to such a complex subject in so few pages makes this a wonderful place for anyone to begin an exploration of the most important period in American history."-Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Confederate War
"A succinct, highly readable account, Masur's book conveys both the drama and the complexity of America's greatest moral and political crisis."- Jacqueline Jones, author of Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War
"Louis Masur's history of the Civil War is extraordinarily deft and balanced, featuring a judicious choice of primary source quotations."-Elizabeth Varon, University of Virginia
"In this concise history of the Civil War, Louis Masur makes good on his promise 'to explain what happened, how it transpired, and what it all meant.' A great deal happened in that war, and it meant more than any other event in American history. Masur covers all the important points of this dramatic story with a deft pen that carries the reader through those crowded years with remarkable clarity and understanding."-James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"For the reader uneasy with any study more than general-interest, this book is the first one that the anticipating librarian should place in such a person's hands. It is an immaculate overview that quickly gets to the heart of the matter, precisely surveying, with keen insight, the slippery slope to war's outbreak, which was paved with increasingly bitter opposing views on slavery and states' rights and territorial expansion; along the way, the concept of nullification added its own coat of slipperiness." -Booklist, Starred Review
"An ideal guide. Masur's deft touch is reflected in the judicious way he mines his material, which includes analysis for the set of illustrations included in the text. One finishes this book, whether read over the course of hours or months, with a sense of having traced the outlines of a vast historiographic territory." --History News Network
"Masur performs a miracle by providing a concise but compelling narrative of the Civil War era, packing in the critical information to track the trajectory of secession, war, emancipation, and Reconstruction...Highly recommended." --Library Journal
"Fresh and amazingly brief." --Salon
"If you want to cut to the chase, this is the volume for you." -Forbes.com
"This book delivers far more than its title suggests, as it is a concise history of not merely the Civil War, but the entire Civil War era. By a masterful melding of the techniques of Bruce Catton's lively narrative storytelling and the scholarly craftsmanship typified by T. Harry Williams and Shelby Foote, Louis P. Masur has written a book that should appeal to the widest audience - including lay readers, students, and academics - interested in the Civil WarEL This book is an essential addition to everyone's Civil War collections." - Civil War History
About the Author
Louis P. Masur is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor in American Institutions and Values at Trinity College and former editor of Reviews in American History. His books include 1831: Year of Eclipse, Runaway Dream: Born to Run and Bruce Springsteen's American Vision, The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph that Shocked America, and "the real war will never get in the books": Selections from Writers during the Civil War (OUP, 1993). He lives in Highland Park, NJ and Hartford, CT.
Most helpful customer reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
A Very Very Concise Civil War
By Civil War Librarian
The Civil War: A Concise History, Louis P. Masur, Oxford University Press, 118 pp, nine illustrations, notes, index, 2011, $18.95.
Oxford University Press has a notable series entitled Very Short Introductions. Each of the 200+ volumes are 144 pages and cover topics from Advertising to Writing and Script. The Civil War: A Concise History is not in the series. With 94 pages of text and 24 pages of notes, index and 'For Further Reading' it is very, very short and with retail price of $18.95 is expensive. Count the nine illustrations, two full page and seven half page and there is about 85 pages of text. But it works.
With a preface, a chapter of origins and five chapters of the years of the war Masur presents a fluid clear introduction to the war and its issues. The book is carefully balanced between generalizations and evidence. The pacing of the book is dramatic and explains what happened, how it happened and what it meant. The important political, economic and social points are there. Knowledgeable readers will make a mental list of what doesn't appear in the book but these readers are not the audience for The Civil War: A Concise History. Those who are looking for an introduction to the war during the sesquicentennial, those who are in high school college preparatory courses, those who find themselves getting sunburned while watching 25,000 reenactors sweating in wool uniforms at Masassas Virginia are the target audience of this book. Also, you may be very familiar with one or two battles but you need to be refreshed about the 'before' and the 'after' this is the book for you.
If you are asked for a book on the Civil War that explains the who, what, where, when why and how, CWL recommends Masur's work. Particularly helpful is Mazur's organizing the cause of the war into three groups: long term origins, short term origins, and triggers. Readers who finish The Civil War: A Concise History may well ask for another book on the Civil War.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
For Those Who Don't Care About the Civil War
By Zoomom
Bravo. I am someone who never gave a rat's tail about the civil war, though at some point I did have some relatives who fought in it. However, this book has changed that for me. The author's ability to put relevant facts together without making them seem like a timeline, to link people and places without overwhelming the reader with endless battle details, to make a flow out of reams of deeply ingrained national memory that did not boggle the reader with excessive tiny details, was a sublime relief compared to other, longer works. The author cuts to the very heart of the matter in a readable and
pleasant style. Lincoln's agonies and indecisions, the South's foundering through inter-state bickering, the politics of the time that seem to be the opposite of today, will open your eyes without boring you. In 94 pages, you will not feel like you're learning something. A wonderful job of condensing a war in a way that makes sense. Well worth your time.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
A New Short Introduction to the Civil War
By Robin Friedman
With the ongoing commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War, many Americans are revisiting the conflict or visiting it for the first time in an attempt to understand this seminal event and its continuing influence on American history. In less than 100 pages, this new book by Louis Masur, "The Civil War: A Concise History" (2011) offers a succinct introduction to the causes of the Civil War, to the conflict itself, and to the Reconstruction era which followed. Mausur is William R. Kenan Professor in American Institutions and Values at Trinity College. He has published extensively on the Civil War and on American history.
Writing freshly and well about the Civil War in a short introduction poses a challenge. Masur writes clearly, identifies issues, and avoids both over-simplification and polemics. Even though an introduction to the subject, the book benefits from an individualized approach and from the selectivity that comes from background knowledge and judgment. Besides presenting the familiar elements of the story, President Lincoln, Grant, Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, Lee, Sherman's March to the Sea, Appomatox, and the rest, Masur's history comes to life through detail. He draws on anecdotes and the words of individual soldiers that will be new and valuable to many students of the war. Masur also weaves the literature of the day into the context of the story as his book makes use of , "Specimen Days", Walt Whitman's prose reflections on the war, of Twain's and Warner's novel "The Gilded Age", of Herman Melville's short poem on the Battle of Shiloh and much more. Masur also makes good use of prints and photographs from the Civil War era. His short book reproduces several prints of subjects such as the Fugitive Slave Law (p. 16), the use of African American troops in the person of "Gordon", an escaped slave with the marks of slavery upon his back (p. 57), 1864 election propaganda on the alleged coming of "miscegenation" with the reelection of Lincoln, (p.71) and cartoons by Thomas Nast on Reconstruction (p. 86). Masur's use of these materials brings particularity to what could have been a simple summary.
In an introductory chapter, Masur traces the causes of the Civil War in slavery and in the doctrine of state's rights, both of which have origins in the Constitution. He also examines what he terms the "Short Term Origins" of the conflict and the "Triggers" which immediately led to it. In the brief chapters which follow, Masur offers a year-by-year account of the conflict which touches upon the great battles and military events together with the political aspects of the conflict. Emancipation and the evolving use of African American troops receive considerable attention.
The best individual section of this book is the treatment of Reconstruction. The aftermath of the Civil War still tends to receive less attention than it deserves. In a short but focused treatment, Masur offers a good introductory account of the difference between Reconstruction and Reformation, of President Andrew Johnson and his relationship to the Reconstruction Congress, of the 13th 14th and 15th amendments, and of the end of Reconstruction. I found his short treatment useful. A brief epilogue considers the long-term changes the Civil War wrought using Whitman as a guide.
This book is a short read prepared for a primary audience of busy people with little prior background in the Civil War. It fulfills this purpose admirably. A careful reading will be of great value regardless of whether the reader decides to explore the subject in more detail. (A well-chosen bibliography will assist interest new students of the Civil War to read further.) As someone who has read a considerable amount about the Civil War, I found Masur's book valuable for its broad picture, for its overview, and for its use of detail. There is always something new to be learned. Readers knowledgeable about the Civil War will benefit from new perspectives and studies.
Robin Friedman
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur PDF
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur EPub
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur Doc
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur iBooks
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur rtf
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur Mobipocket
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P. Masur Kindle
No comments:
Post a Comment