The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era - Hardcover

James M. McPherson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195159012 ISBN 13: 9780195159011

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History and a New York Times Bestseller, Battle Cry of Freedom is universally recognized as the definitive account of the Civil War. It was hailed in The New York Times as "historical writing of the highest order." The Washington Post called it "the finest single volume on the war and its background." And The Los Angeles Times wrote that "of the 50,000 books written on the Civil War, it is the finest compression of that national paroxysm ever fitted between two covers."
Now available in a splendid new edition is The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom. Boasting some seven hundred pictures, including a hundred and fifty color images and twenty-four full-color maps, here is the ultimate gift book for everyone interested in American history. McPherson has selected all the illustrations, including rare contemporary photographs, period cartoons, etchings, woodcuts, and paintings, carefully choosing those that best illuminate the narrative. More important, he has written extensive captions (some 35,000 words in all, virtually a book in themselves), many of which offer genuinely new information and interpretations that significantly enhance the text. The text itself, streamlined by McPherson, remains a fast-paced narrative that brilliantly captures two decades of contentious American history, from the Mexican War to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The reader will find a truly masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities--as well as McPherson's thoughtful commentary on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory.
A must-have purchase for the legions of Civil War buffs, The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom is both a spectacularly beautiful volume and the definitive account of the most important conflict in our nation's history.

About this title

About the Author:

James M. McPherson is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor of History at Princeton University and the President of the American Historical Association. Widely acclaimed as the leading historian of the Civil War, he is the author of Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam (a New York Times bestseller), For Cause and Comrades (winner of a Lincoln Prize), and many other books on Lincoln and the Civil War era.

Review:

"In this impressive book, famed Civil War historian McPherson revises his Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom, reducing the text by one-fifth in order to add a stunning array of over 700 illustrations from the Civil War era--photographs, cartoons, lithographs, etchings, woodcuts, and paintings--that give new life to an already vivid, engrossing history....Real value is added not only by the illustrations, which are neatly woven into the narrative, but also by the copious captions (which add some 35,000 words), which introduce new material and expand on subjects sometimes lightly touched in the original....One can smell the sweat and sulfur from McPherson's riveting narrative and can see the dangerous age as those who lived in it. Essential."--Library Journal

"If you read only one general history of the Civil War, McPherson's book should be it."--Houston Chronicle

"A handsome volume, much appreciated by any American history buff."--Seattle Times

"I could go on, but by now you get the point: The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom presents an outstanding set of images that will enrich anybody's understanding of the Civil War."--National Review Online

"Serious Civil War buffs will delight in this magisterial treatment."--PW Online

"For history buffs, the coffee-table book of the year."--Weekly Standard

"It would seem hard to improve upon a book that won a Pulitzer Prize, made bestseller lists and is widely considered the finest one-volume treatment of its subject, but McPherson's history of the Civil War has gained significantly from being reissued with illustrations. Except for being trimmed by about 20 percent and shorn of its notes, the text is virtually identical to that of 15 years ago. But the photographs, paintings, blueprints, cartoons and other illustrations--along with the author's lucid captions--add materially to the overall effect."--Washington Post Book World

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0195159012
• ISBN 13: 9780195159011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 786