false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172549949m/189667.jpg 189667 2 In <i>Battle Cry Of Freedom</i>,  James M. McPherson presented a fascinating, concise  general history of the defining American conflict.  With <i>What They Fought For</i>, he  focuses his considerable talents on what motivated  the individual soldier to fight. In an exceptional  and highly original Civil War analysis, McPherson  draws on the letters and diaries of nearly one  thousand Union and Confederate soldiers, giving voice  to the very men who risked their lives in the  conflict. His conclusion that most of them felt a keen  sense of patriotic and ideological commitment  counters the prevailing belief that Civil War soldiers  had little or no idea of what they were lighting  for. In their letters home and their diaries --  neither of which were subject to censorship -- these  men were able to comment, in writing, on a wide  variety of issues connected with their war  experience. Their insights show how deeply felt and  strongly held their convictions were and reveal far more  careful thought on the ideological issues of the  war than has previously been thought to be true.  Living only eighty years after the signing of the  Declaration of Independence, Civil War soldiers felt  the legacy and responsibility entrusted to them by  the Founding Fathers to to preserve fragile  democracy -- be it through secession or union -- as  something worth dying for. In <i>What They  Fought For</i>, McPherson takes individual voices  and places them in the great and terrible choir of  a country divided against itself. The result is  both an impressive scholarly tour de force and a  lively, highly accessible account of the sentiments  of both Northern and Southern soldiers during the  national trauma of the Civil War. 3117140 1994 What They Fought For 1861-1865 total:37|5:1|4:0|3:2|2:0|1:0| 37 130 62 6 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Sep 02 17:31:37 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 17:31:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Jun 06 11:32:25 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 11:37:34 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 09:46:36 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 15:09:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 21 09:48:06 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 09:48:06 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jun 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 13 08:24:10 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 13 08:24:53 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Jun 18 20:33:28 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 20:34:46 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Nov 09 15:00:31 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 15:00:31 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sat Oct 10 09:36:31 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 09:36:31 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Oct 08 09:08:46 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 09:08:46 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Sep 28 07:58:01 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 08:12:48 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Sep 12 17:48:04 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 17:49:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Aug 21 21:06:23 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 21:06:23 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jul 09 13:29:35 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 13:29:35 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 19 12:30:07 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 12:30:14 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 05 08:15:21 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 08:15:21 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jun 03 11:36:54 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 11:36:54 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu May 21 11:31:21 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 11:31:21 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Apr 09 14:47:21 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 09 14:47:21 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Mar 26 17:17:46 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 17:17:54 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Mar 22 18:17:26 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 18:17:26 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=189667