1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the Civil War - Softcover

Vandiver, Frank E.

3.45

33 ratings by Goodreads

9780767905435: 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the Civil War

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0767905431 ISBN 13: 9780767905435

Publisher: Broadway, 2000

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The Civil War lasted four years and consumed the American continent, spreading from Maine to California, Florida to Wyoming, and even into Canada. More than a million men--a quarter of all men of fighting age--were killed, or wounded, or died of disease. Every imaginable resource was expended in the war effort, and at its end, a new Union arose from the wreckage of the old.

In 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the Civil War, noted historian Frank Vandiver presents 1,001 key facts about the war that tore the Union apart. Entertaining, moving, and informative, this book will delight both the uninitiated and the hard-core Civil War buff with its accessible and detailed information.

Complete with 182 black-and-white photographs, and including facts both large and small--from the major battles of the war to the recreational tendencies and hardships of both the Yankee and Confederate armies--1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the Civil War offers a fascinating look at the valor and squalor of an important part of America's history.

It includes the answers to such questions as:

What was "the twenty-slave law" and why did it divide the Confederacy? (See #419)

What circumstances nearly forced Robert E. Lee to resign in 1863? (See #520)

What was Grant's "crusher" strategy? (See #722)

What did Booth yell as he jumped onto the stage at Ford's Theatre? (See #833)

How did the Confederate Army win the last battle of the war? (See #882)

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Review:

Civil War historian Frank E. Vandiver prefaces his book with the confession that "the length, breadth, cost, and anguish of the American Civil War cannot be encompassed in 1001 entries." He does, however, give it a good shot, offering up a "highly personal selection" of Civil War people, places, and events. Vandiver is careful to avoid words such as "essential" when describing his list--it's clear that some entries are included because they're funny. (For example, General Joseph Hooker did little to discourage female camp followers, thus lending his name to practitioners of the oldest profession.)

The entries are arranged chronologically from the start of the war to some final analyses and presented as a coherent (though slightly choppy) narrative. Capsule biographies of important figures are interspersed with information on munitions, individual battles, technology, medicine, and "oddities"--factoids which Vandiver takes obvious pleasure in relating.

Although the book is aimed primarily at the general reader, Civil War buffs will still enjoy learning about the lesser-known figures, such as Mrs. Mary Jackson, who led a mob of women in a food riot in Richmond, and John Burns of Gettysburg, a septuagenarian who enlisted on the side of the Union. Dozens of black-and-white photographs illustrate the text and help make it an excellent choice for anyone interested in this sad part of American history. --C.B. Delaney

About the Author:

Frank E. Vandiver, president emeritus of Texas A&M University and a former acting president of the American University of Cairo, is currently director of the Mosher Institute for Defense Studies at Texas A&M. He is well known for his writings on the Civil War and military history, including Mighty Stonewall, Their Tattered Flags: The Epic of the Confederacy, Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing, and Blood Brothers: A Short History of the Civil War.

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