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The March

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 4,496 ratings · 542 reviews

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD
WINNER OF THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In 1864, Union general William Tecumseh Sherman marched his sixty thousand troops through Georgia to the sea, and then up into the Carolinas. The army fought off Confederate forces, demolished cities, and accumulated a borne-along population of freed blacks and white re...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published September 12th 2006 by Random House Trade Paperbacks (first published September 1st 2005)

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Aug 28, 2007 Bart rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Contemporary fiction fans

This was good, not great.

Such has been my feeling about all three of the Doctorow novels I've read, Billy Bathgate, City of God and The March. All of these novels are well-structured, technically proficient works, and all contain something that makes them above average.

But nothing quite makes them extraordinary.

Some credit has to go to Doctorow, however, just for picking Tecumseh Sherman's march as his topic. This is a controversial subject, even 140 years later. Truthfully, I most enjoyed the p...more

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Jun 16, 2007 allison rated it 5 of 5 stars

Totally mesmerizing, hallucinagenic almost. Creates that feeling of being unmoored from the shore and swept along a in a current. At any moment, someone or something else can float by you as you're carried along by the water against your will, just hoping to keep your feet up so as not to get pulled under by a hidden rock or branch and drown. He's a really good writer.

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Jun 30, 2010 Ed Mestre rated it 4 of 5 stars

A quick read and with so many characters and plot lines it is perfect if you like to channel surf or have ADHD. We follow these characters, from the lowliest freed slave to General Sherman, as they march through Georgia, South & North Carolina. A fascinating cross section of Northern and Southern society we see the Civil War through a very human perspective. Even Sherman emerges from the chiseled daguerreotype image we grew up with into a real human being. At times funny, at times heartbreak...more

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Apr 08, 2011 Joy H. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, selection-of-a-book-group, bestseller, civil-war

_The March_ (2005) by E.L. Doctorow
"This is an historical fiction account of General Sherman's military march through the South during the American Civil War." (from a member review at LibraryThing)

Great read! Now I'm motivated to read Doctorow's other books.

I loved the characters in this book. I skimmed over the geographical details which mapped out the Civil War battle locations and the war strategies. I was mostly engrossed in the characters and their fate.

I found an interesting review of th...more

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Oct 02, 2008 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I am proud to say that when this book was in hardcover, I was in a cable-access-type show about new books for Christmas available at your local bookstore! What did I say about this book? PRESERVED FOREVER ON CAMERA? "This book is excellent historical fiction, so if you're looking for excellent historical fiction, this is the book for you." Yes, yes I really said that. And I hadn't even read the book! But now I have.

It's beautifully written, I think, in Doctorow's usual three-paragraph-long sent...more

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Jul 22, 2008 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

I kind of feel about this book the way I felt about the movie "The Departed". It certainly had the look and feel of a Scorsese movie, but without the heart; like he was going through the motions. This has the feel of a Doctorow book, it is historical fiction with real characters interspersed with imaginary ones, but it was vaguely unsatisfying. Stylistically he still creates an effective vehicle, and I read it from beginning to end fairly quickly; but very little in it either created real emotio...more

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Jun 21, 2008 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-literature

I'm a big fan of Doctorow, and we go way back; he's probably the first serious contemporary novelist I read, thanks to a copy of Ragtime acquired when I attended Ragtime Night at Comiskey Park sometime in the late 1970s (I find the notion that copies of a Doctorow novel were given away by the thousands at a White Sox game only slightly more mystifying than the fact that I was attending a White Sox game to begin with). This, however, is not his strongest work. Doctorow used Sherman's March to the...more

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Mar 01, 2007 Sansanee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

[Note: The following review was also published in the Georgia Library Quarterly.]

From the author of such acclaimed works as Ragtime and Billy Bathgate, The March is E.L. Doctorow's first full-length work in five years. Doctorow’s novel covers the Civil War march of General William Tecumseh Sherman and his soldiers as they move through Georgia and the Carolinas. The swath cut by Sherman's troops is an uprooting for everyone - black and white, young and old, North and South. With scant notice, pla...more [Note: The following review was also published in the Georgia Library Quarterly.]

From the author of such acclaimed works as Ragtime and Billy Bathgate, The March is E.L. Doctorow's first full-length work in five years. Doctorow’s novel covers the Civil War march of General William Tecumseh Sherman and his soldiers as they move through Georgia and the Carolinas. The swath cut by Sherman's troops is an uprooting for everyone - black and white, young and old, North and South. With scant notice, plantation owners and their families flee the approaching army, leaving behind livestock, provisions and their former slaves. Foraging parties, sent in advance, raid and collect those supplies that help keep the army on the march. Slaves are free but now they must find their own way into their new lives. For a time they follow the Union army, swelling the numbers of people on the move; but they are left behind whenever the march’s pace demands it.

The March is an epic journey brought to life in a skillful blend of fact and fiction; it is a story told through the fog of war, with impressions of life and death on the march in its various states. As the Union army makes progress, fighting those Confederate forces they should encounter, the march itself becomes its own essential, structured world. There is an advance, there is a battle, they capture a city, they gather supplies, they regroup, and then move on to the next stage, where the cycle of events repeats. In its best moments, The March captures the intense, mythic quality of the Civil War. The novel depicts scenes of the corporeal, physical state of war but it also offers insight into the simple human response during that historical age.

History is illuminated through Doctorow’s varied and vivid characters who populate the novel. There is Pearl Jameson, the beautiful, pale-skinned daughter of a slave and plantation owner who seizes the chance to make something of her new-found freedom. The bereft Emily Thompson, daughter of Judge Thompson of Milledgeville, finds herself joining the march and working as a nurse with Colonel Wrede Sartorius, a brilliant but detached field surgeon. Will and the garrulous, possibly mad Arly are Rebel picaresques who contrive to make the best of a given situation, whether that requires a gray or blue uniform. There is even General Sherman himself, shown in moments of strategy and moral philosophy.

The first section of the novel tells the story of Sherman’s march through Georgia and its effect on those caught in its path. As a glimpse into Georgia during the Civil War era, Doctorow’s novel is compelling and illuminating. Overall, this work is recommended for any general fiction collection, not just as a work of literature but also for its insights and impressions of a particular time in American history.(less)

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Dec 14, 2009 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-of-2009

Well-written novel about Gen.Sherman's march through the Carolinas,after destroying the city of Atlanta.It validates Sherman's statement that "war is hell", not only for the soldiers on each side but also for the civilians,freed slaves,the wounded,the medical staff.
I'm planning to read more by this author.

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Oct 06, 2009 Lynn Pribus rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Who knew Sherman's march through Georgia to the sea didn't stop there? Well, not me. This throng of soldiers -- encumbered by freed and confused slaves, starving camp followers and burned-out farmers -- turned north through the Carolinas, ending up near Goldsboro, N.C. about the time Lee surrendered at Appomattox.

I'd just finished ANDERSONVILLE which was so densely and authentically written, that this seemed a bit casual. There were deaths and rains and not enough food, but it didn't grab me in...more

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Dec 22, 2007 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Like Ragtime, The March portrays a historical episode through a diverse group of characters (including Coalhouse Wallker, Sr.). In this case, the piece of history is centered around Sherman's Union Army following the burning of Atlanta. Characters include Union Officers, confederate soldiers, former slaves, and Southern women who join the march as nurses. Although it was well-written, I found that the number of characters made it a little difficult to follow, and I didn't really get attached to...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This novel revolves around William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea, from Atlanta to Goldsborough, N.C. the story is told in the 3rd person from different points ov view; the participating characters range from Pearl, a half-black child of a Georgia plantation owner to her former mistress to soldiers from both Union and Confederate armies to Sherman himself.[return][return]Doctorow's treatment of Sherman, which is hostile, depends heavily on Sherman's high-strung temperament, his restless act...more This novel revolves around William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea, from Atlanta to Goldsborough, N.C. the story is told in the 3rd person from different points ov view; the participating characters range from Pearl, a half-black child of a Georgia plantation owner to her former mistress to soldiers from both Union and Confederate armies to Sherman himself.[return][return]Doctorow's treatment of Sherman, which is hostile, depends heavily on Sherman's high-strung temperament, his restless activity and at times lapses from the historical record. In the process, Doctorow makes some minor historical errors--placing Sherman's breakdown after First Bull Run when in reality it happened months later in St. Louis. The description of the breakdown itself is startling, since I know of no historical record that shows that Sherman had such an episode during or after Bull Run, which Doctorow implies. [return][return]Another, far more startling error is quoting Sherman as saying he didn't understand why the defence of Atlanta had been given to 'that stupid Frenchman Beauregard". He might indeed wonder, since to anyone else's knowledge, it was John Bell Hood who lost Atlanta. How did an editor let that slip by? The story is in no way enhanced by it. Another perfectly legitimate literary device is a fictional account of an assassination attempt on Sherman after the Battle of Bentonville. What is bothersome about this, however, is that there is no afterward, as is usual in the case of fiction placed in a historical context, explaining the liberties taken with the facts. This is a major and unwelcome departure from normal custom.[return][return]That said, the book is brilliant, especially at the end, particularly at the Battle of Bentonville. Doctorow evokes the chaos of battle, the horror of war. Through the character of Dr. Wrede Sartorius, Doctorow shows the terrible cost and human suffering of the most wasteful of human endeavors, war.[return][return]There is a section where Pryce, the English journalist, is looking down from a crotch in a tree at hand-to-hand combat, describing; "This was not war as adventure nor war for a solemn cause, it was war at its purest, a mindless mass rage severed from any cause, ideal or moral principle". (p. 298) The brilliance of the book is in showing how people manage to survive and go on with their lives in the middle of and despite the "mindless mass rage". Despite the really serious--and irresponsible--lapses noted above, the book is an outstanding work.(less)

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Sep 30, 2008 Paige rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, literary-fiction

Civil War setting. Lots of colorful, concrete details about general Sherman's march after the burning of Atlanta. Brings alive a messy, pivotal moment in American history. The soldiers on the march were joined by a rag-tag group of freed slaves and white women and children who had become refugees. The narrative is like a vast river pulling you along (long sentences, almost stream of consciousness). The scale is both "epic" (momentous history) and "personal" (love story). Well worth reading.

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May 17, 2013 Cheshire Public Library rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: featured-on-cheshire-library-blog

March tells the story of Sherman’s imfamous march through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina during 1864 and into 1865. There is a rather large, colorful, and diverse cast of characters, led by William Tecumsah Sherman himself. Doctorow does an excellent job incorporating people from all “walks of life” into this story: freed slaves, Southern women, Confederate and Union soldiers, and even a British journalist. However, there were almost too many characters. At some point I lost track o...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don't like historical fiction that puts words, thoughts, and actions into the mouths, minds, and bodies of real people. And I don't care for multiple-perspective novels. So I realized pretty quickly that this was not the novel for me. But, if we expect our students to read it, I should read it too. (Note: I am not the teacher for this class, just the librarian at the school where it is taught. As the teacher, of course I would read it! For the librarian, it is optional.)

I found it fascinating...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-historical-fiction

This is a sweeping and grandiose examination of the aftermath of the US Civil War, and if you enjoy war stories, this period specifically, or even just history generally this is a wonderful story.

I listened to the audio book and found the narrator's voice (he is African American) really added an extra level of ambiance to the book as opposed to me just reading it and hearing the story in my own head.

There are multiple stories that use multiple characters, who are young & old, black & whi...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

This brilliant but flawed work of historical fiction chronicles William Tecumseh Sherman's storied march to the sea and its aftermath until the end of the Civil War. The book is brilliant in its insight but flawed by an almost Dickensian sentimentality at times; for example, the noble African American photographer Calvin Harper is afflicted by blindness after he tries to foil an assassination attempt. Although there is death aplenty in this story, the way it is meted out suggests a poetic justic...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Glorialaihuang rated it 3 of 5 stars

The March is another historical fiction (I don't know why I keep accidentally reading historical fictions). This one takes place during the Civil War. A bit of background - when I was, like, 7, I discovered Gone With The Wind, which I proceeded to read 50 billion times over the next decade or two. (In my defense, when I started reading it, I had no idea what was going on in it, race relations-wise, and it was years later that I realized that the supposedly-innocent organization mentioned in the...more

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Vivian I'm impressed you read "Gone with the Wind" as a child. I saw the movie when I was a child and I had no clue what was going on. I knew it was a famous...more
Apr 18, 2011 12:07am

Glorialaihuang Aww, thanks Viv! I must admit, despite it clearly being a Southern sympathizer and the fact that it sometimes devolves into straight-up racism, GWTW s...more
Apr 18, 2011 08:00am

Vivian For some reason, I think her first name "Vivien" might have been a stage name too and I was heartbroken when I learned that her name wasn't her real n...more
Apr 19, 2011 01:18pm

Jan 04, 2011 Derek rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Civil War novel second only to Charles Frazier's impeccable Cold Mountain, E.L. Doctorow's The March follows William Tecumseh Sherman's rampage through Georgia and the Carolinas in harrowing and hallucinatory detail, weaving multiple narratives (sometimes overlapping, sometimes not) and delving into the morality, contradiction, and horror of America's arguably darkest moment.

What works so well is not only Doctorow's clear gift for economical and poetic description of war's terribleness (rape,...more A Civil War novel second only to Charles Frazier's impeccable Cold Mountain, E.L. Doctorow's The March follows William Tecumseh Sherman's rampage through Georgia and the Carolinas in harrowing and hallucinatory detail, weaving multiple narratives (sometimes overlapping, sometimes not) and delving into the morality, contradiction, and horror of America's arguably darkest moment.

What works so well is not only Doctorow's clear gift for economical and poetic description of war's terribleness (rape, senseless murder, disease, unalleviated suffering), but also the strangely organic form that Sherman's march takes: like cells in a larger organism, characters appear and die off (or, in some instances, leave), and yet the march continues onward, consuming everything in its path. There are of course central characters here, but Doctorow's attention shifts quite regularly; rarely does the narrative stay with one character for more than a few pages before we've revisited another storyline. It sounds like it could be disjointed or distracting, but it's not. Instead, it illuminates the common themes throughout the novel nicely and moves the narrative with urgency and excitement.

I love also that Doctorow gives such space not only to the Union soldiers on the march, but to the Southern civilians, former slaves, and Rebels who, by various circumstances, have found themselves joining the march for salvation (which never really comes, at least not in the way they imagine it). Former slave girl Pearl's narrative is clearly the standout, and Doctorow does phenomenal work of humanizing her story, making it her own, but also making it a feasible stand-in for the thousands of similar real-life narratives that could very well find a place in a longer text. Her energy and wit are at the center of The March, which would otherwise be a lightless and hopelessly bleak story without it.

I'm far from an expert on Civil War military movements or campaigns, but you needn't be to enjoy The March. In fact, I'd venture to guess that if you were an expert on such things, Doctorow's character-centric story might not work for you as well as, say, a Jeff Shaara book that provides such detail. Instead, this is a book for literary geeks (count me gladly among them) who get off on great character development, thematic cohesion, and poetic attention to setting. If you're sure that historical fiction isn't your bag, I implore you to give this one a chance anyway.

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Oct 11, 2010 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

William Tecumseh Sherman’s storied march through the south to free the slaves is wonderfully told by E.L. Doctorow in his The March, richly and clearly illustrated by various persons and stories, placed together, sometimes harshly, sometimes gently, never without us caring about each, giving us yet another view of another war and its hideousness, compassion, wildness and death.

Pearl, a white slave, is particularly fascinating character as is Sherman himself. So are many, many other members of t...more

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Jun 24, 2009 Bill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Doctorow is best known for Ragtime. He is also the author of several other historical novels including Billy Bathgate and The Book of Daniel. The March another historical novel describes Sherman's march at the end of the Civil War.

Writing an historical novel is difficult because, by definition, the author must stick closely with the historical facts and develop characters. The best historical novels also provide an excellent picture of the times. Without doing further research it must be admitte...more Doctorow is best known for Ragtime. He is also the author of several other historical novels including Billy Bathgate and The Book of Daniel. The March another historical novel describes Sherman's march at the end of the Civil War.

Writing an historical novel is difficult because, by definition, the author must stick closely with the historical facts and develop characters. The best historical novels also provide an excellent picture of the times. Without doing further research it must be admitted that Doctorow sticks with the facts. He does not meet the remaining criteria.

Battles are fought and Sherman's army steadily moves through Georgia, then to Columbia, South Carolina and finally to Goldsboro Junction where the war ends. Sherman's object was to bring the Confederacy to its knees by destroying everything in his army's way. Farms and cities were burned, railroads and factories destroyed and Negro slaves freed.

His description of the times is only partially compelling. He succeeds in describing the North's attitude toward freed slaves. Confederate forces were still active and frequently tried to stop Sherman's advance. At the book's beginning several hundred freed slaves trying to stay with Sherman to avoid CSA forces, were sacrificed when Sherman refused to permit them to cross a pontoon bridge and remain under his army's protection. Later, when he was advancing against CSA General Joe Johnston, Sherman once again sends the newly freed slaves off in a different direction to survive as best they can without the army's care.

Doctorow is only partially successful in describing the times because he does not get into the minds and hearts of Southerners. There is little description of how desperate and confused these people were once they realized that their livelihoods and way of life were destroyed forever. How were they going to live with burned farms and cities as well as without their most valuable property and work force: slaves?

March's most serious problem is poor and chaotic character development. Apparently
Doctorow has watched too many TV dramas like Dallas and West Wing where action rapidly shifts between scenes. His rapid scene changing and replacing one character with another results in inadequate time to develop characters.

The most developed character is Pearl, the child of a black master and a slave who passes for white. Through a series of meetings and adventures with various white men she losses her slave accent and learns to read. At the conclusion there is promise that she might attend college and become one of the first female doctors.

Dr. Wrede Satorius, a European field surgeon in the employ of the Union Army, provides Doctorow with a means to describe the horrors of Civil War battlefield medicine. Amputations were so frequent that after battles a huge pile of newly separated arms and legs waited burial. Satorius is almost cartoon like. He has superior surgical skills and is contemptuous of his fellow army surgeons. Doctorow simply stops developing this character. Sherman is also inadequately developed. There is no explanation of his motivation and how he commanded.

Sherman's march has the material for a good novel but it is yet to be written.
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Feb 07, 2009 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

I have never been a big Civil War buff although I have read several novels set in that period. The best of those novels examine the difficult personal relationships between people at the heart of the conflict. A civil war is unlike any war between countries in its emotional intensity. E.L. Doctorow captures those relationships perfectly in "The March".

General Sherman's march from Atlanta north is famous in history for the path of destruction it left behind and for helping to end the Civil War. T...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Roger DeBlanck rated it 4 of 5 stars

The "march" alluded to in the title is Union General William T. Sherman’s infamous trek east across Georgia and north up through the Carolinas during the latter stages of the Civil War. Sherman serves as one of many prominent, historical figures explored throughout this sweeping, capacious novel. Doctorow’s recounting of the ravishment of war shows Sherman’s military campaign growing into a kind of massive organism of incalculable human suffering as free slaves, wandering vagabonds, and displace...more

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Jan 21, 2010 Tony Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"In 1864, after Union general William Tecumseh Sherman burned Atlanta, he marched his sixty thousand troops east through Georgia to the sea, and then up into the Carolinas. The army fought off Confederate forces and lived off the land, pillaging the Southern plantations, taking cattle and crops for their own, demolishing cities, and accumulating a borne-along population of freed blacks and white refugees until all that remained was the dangerous transient life of the uprooted, the dispossessed,...more

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Jun 05, 2007 Nigel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sherman seems to get a pretty bad press for his destructive rampage through Georgia and the Carolinas. This book does manage to humanise him and his cohorts somewhat, though doesn't give much historical background to the Civil War. It is more a series of perceptive vignettes of soldiers, freed slaves and displaced civilians caught up in the chaos and misery of the unrelenting campaign. Vivid and immediate, but an easy, pleasurable and rewarding read despite the subject matter.

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Oct 31, 2012 Christopher Rex rated it 5 of 5 stars

I came across this book rather randomly and though it's said you should never judge a book by its cover, let's face it - the cover matters (the one I bought is different from the version seen here). The only reason I grabbed it is b/c the cover caught my eye. Turned out to be a real gem.

I've never been overly into the US Civil War for whatever reason, so this was my first real excursion into Civil War literature that I can remember. Well, if ever a book was going to get me into this era of histo...more I came across this book rather randomly and though it's said you should never judge a book by its cover, let's face it - the cover matters (the one I bought is different from the version seen here). The only reason I grabbed it is b/c the cover caught my eye. Turned out to be a real gem.

I've never been overly into the US Civil War for whatever reason, so this was my first real excursion into Civil War literature that I can remember. Well, if ever a book was going to get me into this era of history, this would be it. E.L. Doctorow is a great writer and this story of William Tecumseh Sherman's epic march across Georgia to the ocean (and up through the Carolinas) is brilliantly told. I knew of Sherman's march of "destruction" which eventually destroyed what was left of the "Seccessionists" but never really thought of it in any real "human" terms - this book made me do just that, which I suppose is the mark of a great novel (it gets you to think).

The book is an interwoven tale of various characters all affected by Sherman's "march" in various ways (including Sherman himself). As such, it is really a great human story that tackles the Civil War from all angles - North, South, Black, White, Male, Female. That within itself is the book's greatest asset - it is a true human tale and a web of stories brilliantly interwoven.

E.L. Doctorow uses language and prose which is easily accessible to all levels of readers and the story moves along at a pace which keeps the reader engaged. As such, it brings the reader directly into the lives of the characters and the Civil War as a whole and keeps you "on the edge" throughout. Despite the fact that the conclusion of the "march" (and the war) are already known, the book really keeps an aura of suspense and interest in how it will all play out.

Highly recommended to fans of historical fiction, the US Civil War and great storytelling. Incidentally, I think that the author of "City of Thieves" (which I read recently) must have read this book and used 2 of the characters (and their tale) as inspiration - way too much similiarity of theme & personal characteristics - and he certainly chose his inspiration well.(less)

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Jan 12, 2012 David Carr rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's practice of scorched earth warfare in his march across Georgia is an example of humiliation beyond defeat. Absolutely punitive, the practice sought to reverse the arrogance of secessionism and the crime of shattering the union by destroying the economy, transportation, class, culture, and cities of the Confederacy. We feel the effects still, recognizing the difficulty of renewal and recovery after thorough defeat. As it is with other firestorms, landscape...more Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's practice of scorched earth warfare in his march across Georgia is an example of humiliation beyond defeat. Absolutely punitive, the practice sought to reverse the arrogance of secessionism and the crime of shattering the union by destroying the economy, transportation, class, culture, and cities of the Confederacy. We feel the effects still, recognizing the difficulty of renewal and recovery after thorough defeat. As it is with other firestorms, landscapes and populations bear historical scars. We recognize PTSD today, but reading by E. L. Doctorow is a reminder that it is likely to have been a constant sickness emergent from all wars.

Sherman knows this and begins his march to the sea as a way of breaking the will of the south, in part by its sheer audacity, in larger part by its uncompromising cruelties. It is clear that what has been created in the action is something that cannot be led, even by Sherman. The war is a dark forest, and the march is an excavation or an incomparable clearcutting. Its long tail is described as a living organism of many segments, comprising more than 60,000 troops, thousands of freed slaves and other hangers-on. Publishers Weekly called its episodic stories "kind of a grim Civil War Canterbury Tales." The march is a huge creeping segmented insect, irresistible and terrible. Updike called it "a floating world. It devours people and takes over their lives, digests their possessions and identities, and it carries the reader inevitably forward.

Sherman's brilliant musings, vignettes of experiences among civilians, soldiers and slaves, the military moves and strategies -- are all dramatic and superb. Their destinies are suddenly entwined and common. Doctorow allows multiple voices to speak their truths without judgment, though most reasonable voices are heard from the Union side. Reading this book occasionally caused me to think about the title of a book by Chris Hedges: War is a Force that Gives us Meaning. Ironically, having seen its meaninglessness, Sherman might agree. This is a superb novel, probably Doctorow's best, full of questions that cannot be asked or even tentatively answered except in the dread of war. (less)

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Jan 04, 2012 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the first Doctorow book I've read...it's not going to be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this ficitonalized look at Sherman's march through Georgia after the taking of Atlanta, the subsequent march of his army to Savannah, along with the thousands of freed slaves and white women and children who joined the army, having nowhere else to go. While Sherman didn't authorize a scorched earth policy, drunken soldiers do terrible things after three and a half years of war, and the army did surviv...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

The opening 10 paragraphs of The March convincingly sketch the end of Antebellum life for a Georgia planter and his family, and soon the narrative is caught up by General Sherman’s army on its March to the Sea. The conquering forces pick up a civilian tail, thousands of displaced Southerners, slave and free alike. The marchers head to Savannah and from there north to meet up with Grant near war’s end at Appomattox.

Doctorow threads a dizzying number of plotlines together, and the march becomes a...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Kevin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reading

The March is a dramatization of the devastation wrought from total warfare and emancipation of the slaves of General Sherman’s and the Army of the West campaign through the south. Rather than focus on the historical events themselves E. L. Doctorow weaves a narrative of the march from multiple perspectives including well known generals, rebel turncoats, freed slaves, a British war correspondent, a photographer, dispossessed plantation owners, a surgeon, and a few soldiers who meet their ends alo...more The March is a dramatization of the devastation wrought from total warfare and emancipation of the slaves of General Sherman’s and the Army of the West campaign through the south. Rather than focus on the historical events themselves E. L. Doctorow weaves a narrative of the march from multiple perspectives including well known generals, rebel turncoats, freed slaves, a British war correspondent, a photographer, dispossessed plantation owners, a surgeon, and a few soldiers who meet their ends along the way.

There are some excellent passages and writing about the march itself as living organism that has to feed and tamed in order to achieve it’s ultimate goal. Also, the dialogue between characters is spot on, making the character to character interaction seem natural and fluid. Match that with an obvious desire to present the history accurately and you’ve got the raw materials for a great novel. However, perhaps that book’s greatest short coming was intended to be its greatest strength; the vast array of characters.

Although I can see why Doctorow would want to include such a wide array of perspectives of such a grand event, individually the characters are not given an enough space to be fully developed and flourish. I think the incomplete realizations and disjointed/abortive storylines are meant to emphasize the chaos of war; if so, it didn’t work for me. Another issue I had with the book is that sometimes the characters didn’t seem like characters at all instead they are used to represent larger historical forces that are not necessarily at work in the micro-stories that are the focus of the narrative. It seems like Doctorow is trying to pull all these individual stories together in order to lecture to the reader about the injustices of the time. It seems to me that the best historical fiction allows the reads complete entry into another time and place with all the prejudices and limitations of that experience. Perhaps if the a few of the characters were given more space, more depth, and more nuance there wouldn’t be this issue of distance between the reader and the events.

In the end, I’m not sorry to have spent time reading this novel, there is plenty of good writing in the various individual stories to recommend it, but falls a bit short of my expectations.

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About E.L. Doctorow

Famous American Jewish writer, Edgar Laurence Doctorow is the author of several critically acclaimed novels that blend history and social criticism. Although he had written books for years, it was not until the publication of The Book of Daniel in 1971 that he obtained acclaim. His next book, Ragtime, was a commercial and critical success. As of 2006, he held the Glucksman Chair in American Letter...more

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“Emily supposed the modern world was fortunate in the progress of science. But she could not help but feel at this moment the impropriety of male invasiveness. She knew he was working to save this poor woman, but in her mind, too, was a sense of Wrede's science as adding to the abuse committed by his fellow soldiers. He said not a word. It was as if the girl were no more than the surgical challenge she offered.” — 1 person liked it

“It was as if God had decreed this characterless engagement of brainless forces as his answer to the human presumption.” — 1 person liked it

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