Fields of Fury: The American Civil War - Hardcover

McPherson, James M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689848331 ISBN 13: 9780689848339

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002

Synopsis

Pulitzer Prize award-winning historian James M. McPherson has written for young readers a stirring account of the greatest conflict to happen on our nation's soil, the Civil War, bringing to life the tragic struggle that divided not only a nation, but also friends and family. From the initial Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, to the devastating loss of life at Shiloh as Ulysses S. Grant led the Union to unexpected victory, to the brilliance of Stonewall Jackson's campaign at Shenandoah, to General Pickett's famous charge at Gettysburg, to the Union's triumph at Appo-mattox Court House, Fields of Fury details the war that helped shape us as a nation.
Also included are personal anecdotes from the soldiers at the battlefront and the civilians at home, as well as profiles of historical luminaries such as Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Ulysses S. Grant. McPherson also explores the varied roles that women played during the war, healthcare on the battlefield, and the demise of slavery.
McPherson's narrative is highlighted with black-and-white photographs taken by Civil War photographers Mathew Brady and Timothy O'Sullivan, period oil paintings, and key campaign and battlefield maps, that make Fields of Fury the consummate book on the American Civil War for kids.

About this title

Review:

Civil War historian James M. McPherson's Fields of Fury does for kids what the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom did for adults.

The well-organized, well-executed, kid-friendly history of the Civil War was a brilliant idea if there ever was one. It's difficult to imagine anyone doing a better job than McPherson at breaking down this complex, interrelated series of events into such compelling and easily digestible chunks. Except for a handful of longer entries, each major battle and section receives a single, concise, two-page spread that includes McPherson's summary and analysis, eyewitness accounts from all sides of the conflict (many from kids!), a few "Quick Facts," as well as carefully chosen maps, photographs, and other illustrations (some of which, appropriately, border on the macabre, a fact kids will appreciate). Fields of Fury also includes a glossary, an index, a list of related Web sites, a bibliography, and a timeline in the endpapers.

McPherson succeeds not just by grabbing attention and keeping it, but by doing so with such economy--and never without context that relates each entry back to the whole. (In fact, grownups who lacked the time or interest to weather McPherson's 904-page Battle Cry shouldn't be surprised if they find themselves "borrowing" Fields of Fury after their kids hit the sack.) (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

About the Author:

James M. McPherson, PhD, an American history expert and one of the most distinguished historians of our time, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. His other bestselling books include For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War, What They Fought For, 1861-1865; Gettysburg: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution; and Fields of Fury. An active preservationist, he has served on the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission since 1991. Dr. McPherson was named the Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities for 2000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities. A professor at Princeton University, he lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0689848331
• ISBN 13: 9780689848339
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96