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18th out of 419 books
—
423 voters
A Stillness at Appomattox: The Army of the Potomac Trilogy (Army of the Potomac #3)
by
Bruce Catton
When first published in 1953, Bruce Catton, our foremost Civil War historian was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for excellence in nonfiction.This final volume of The Army of the Potomac trilogy relates the final year of the Civil War....more
Paperback, 1st Anchor Books ed, 438 pages
Published
August 1st 1990
by Anchor Books
(first published January 1951)
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Appomattox, one of “the homely American place-names made dreadful by war.” Appomattox Court House has a homeliness, but Wilderness Tavern, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor - the Virginia killing fields of Grant’s overland push - those sound entirely sinister. And then you have the fight-grounds and sites of massacre from three centuries of Indian Wars, which seem to fall on either side of a fine line separating the comical (Tippecanoe, Little Big Horn) from the weirdly resonant (Fallen Timbers, Wounded...more
This is the third installment in Bruce Catton's great Civil War trilogy. Similar to the first two volumes, "A Stillness at Appomattox" continues the style of writing history for modern readers, concentrating on the human motivations central to important events. These books are as readable and enjoyable today as they were originally in the 1950's. Beyond the broad appeal inherent in them, these three volumes, and especially "A Stillness..." were important components in the mid-twentieth century's...more
I guess I read this book out of order, I didn't realize it was the third book in a trilogy. That being said, it worked just fine as a stand-alone book.
The last few months of the Civil War were really brought to life for me by this book (sorry for the cliche phrase). It's well-written and reads like a novel, but it also contains a lot of quite interesting historical information. I've always found the Civil War a fascinating subject, and knew a moderate amount about it before reading this book, b...more
The last few months of the Civil War were really brought to life for me by this book (sorry for the cliche phrase). It's well-written and reads like a novel, but it also contains a lot of quite interesting historical information. I've always found the Civil War a fascinating subject, and knew a moderate amount about it before reading this book, b...more
May 31, 2011
Jonathan
marked it as to-read
http://mobile.cleveland.com/advcleve/...
'"A Stillness at Appomattox" by Bruce Catton. This third book in a splendid trilogy, "Army of the Potomac," covers the final year of the war in writing beautiful enough to be poetry. Catton, a former Plain Dealer columnist who died in 1978, grew up in a small Michigan town knowing and speaking to Civil War veterans. He also pioneered writing military history from the lowly soldiers' points of view. He depicts the ugliness, the plight of slaves and freemen,...more
'"A Stillness at Appomattox" by Bruce Catton. This third book in a splendid trilogy, "Army of the Potomac," covers the final year of the war in writing beautiful enough to be poetry. Catton, a former Plain Dealer columnist who died in 1978, grew up in a small Michigan town knowing and speaking to Civil War veterans. He also pioneered writing military history from the lowly soldiers' points of view. He depicts the ugliness, the plight of slaves and freemen,...more
Brutal. Gritty. You'll finally understand just what an ugly time this was...makes you appreciate your ancestors, that's for sure.
Too clunky for the Pulitzer for me, but I understand the sentiment. No regrets with every minute of this book. I feel a better man for reading it.
But let's face it. If you really want to FEEL battle, look up two short essays:
1) Illumination Rounds, by Michael Herr
2) Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All, by William Manchester
...here you will find some really heavy shit....more
Too clunky for the Pulitzer for me, but I understand the sentiment. No regrets with every minute of this book. I feel a better man for reading it.
But let's face it. If you really want to FEEL battle, look up two short essays:
1) Illumination Rounds, by Michael Herr
2) Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All, by William Manchester
...here you will find some really heavy shit....more
What can I say about Bruce Catton and this book? I became a life-long lover of all things history because of Bruce Catton. I read these in my early twenties and I can still recall the sweet pleasure I got from realizing that history was actually FASCINATING when written by someone who seemed to sense the past as present.
Life-changing for me.
If you would like to know more about the Civil War and are a beginner - I suggest you start with Catton.
If you need to remember why it is you became fasci...more
Life-changing for me.
If you would like to know more about the Civil War and are a beginner - I suggest you start with Catton.
If you need to remember why it is you became fasci...more
I re-read this a few years back, and it's simply one of the best history books I've ever read. Grant's brutal sledgehammer campaign, Lee's ferocious response, it's all here, but written in a way that comes across, at times, like some sort of dark war poetry. I think I saw on Goodreads where someone said that Catton was a historian with great heart. I couldn't agree more. And as a Virginian, I love the way Catton captures a familiar landscape, since I actually live only a few miles from the Chanc...more
If there is a better writer on the Civil War then Bruce Catton, I have not found him. If he has written a better book than this one, I have not read it. This book covers the last 14 months of the war with the Army of the Potomac. While it covers all the details and events, its strength is how it puts the events in a greater context of how it affected our country's future.
Finally! I have finally finished the longest trilogy ever! It was extremely detailed and interesting, but it was incredibly dense. So while I appreciated that I finally was able to read this, I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone who isn't REALLY interested in the Civil War. If you are, then it's a great one for you.
I read this book after I visited the Appomattox Court House. It uses many primary sources to tell the story of the Civil War. Excerpts are taken from soldiers letters and colorful scenes are created to take the reader back in time and recreate a sorrowful time in our history.
This story reflects the long difficult slog (literally) that the Union army of the Potomac went through the last year of the war. It reminded me of the hundreds of ways we can kill each other, and how much in common we all have.
Another Pulitzer winner.
Another Pulitzer winner.
From the beginning Catton draws you into the shadow life of the soldier, both North and South, that fought with heart and faith for their country and commanders. When I finished at Appomattox, I carried their imprinted emotions with me. It is a gifted work.
Not bad for a history... a little tedious, and I would've loved to learn more and hear more from the perspective of the Confederate Army of N. Virginia. But I guess this was a history of the Army of the Potomac. But for a history, I thought it read very well.
As moving as the Shaara books (Killer Angels, Gods and Generals, The Last Full Measure), and, this book is non-fiction. Was definitely written before the modern-day language police could redact the politically incorrect terms. I noticed some slight bias in the author against Grant and favoring Lee and a hint of Southern sympathy, but, otherwise an excellent book and AFAIK historically accurate.
The last series of the classic trilogy the Army of the Potomac by Bruce Catton. This tells of the closing battles that led up to the surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.
For someone who does not consider himself a history buff, let alone a Civil War history buff, I found myself at times bogged down in this detailed military history. More than once, I put A Stillness aside for a few weeks and returned only reluctantly.
But I believe this was Catton's design. He intended, is seems, to put his reader in the well-worn shoes of the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac - to make you feel the heat, hunger, dust, and dread of life and death in that army. And he succeeded...more
But I believe this was Catton's design. He intended, is seems, to put his reader in the well-worn shoes of the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac - to make you feel the heat, hunger, dust, and dread of life and death in that army. And he succeeded...more
Military history of the Army of the Potomac. This was the first military history that I've read. Not my favorite genre and I didn't finish it, but I thought the book was well-written and fairly engaging.
After reading US Grant's Memoirs, and listening to David Blight's podcast on the Civil War, I decided to re-read this great book. It is an outstanding overview of thel last year of Lee's army.
Nov 29, 2010
Jonathan Harmon
added it
A fantastic, superb, poetic look at what I consider the most intriguing and dramatic wars in history. Catton mixes marvelous prose with an incredibly thorough approach to historical accuracy. There's a reason this book is so critically appreciated - it happens to be a GOOD book.
Jan 13, 2011
Erik Graff
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Americans
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
history
Reviewed under the rubric of the series (purchased after this older edition was read) of which this is the third of three volumes.
Third of Catton's Army of the Potomac trilogy, the end is nigh for the Civil War but there is still the bloody final year. Catton's books are all outstanding and this is no exception. Highly readable and insightful.
The first two chapters were required reading for school. I read them and did not comprehend what was happening. So yeah. I will not be finishing this right now.
Excellent read. Some maps would have been a great addition. Illustrates quite well the sheer drudgery, total chaos, and numbing horror of war. I seldom look forward to finishing a good book but in this case the end brought relief in that the killing ceased.
This trilogy is some of the finest writing on the Civil War that can be found.
Needs more maps. Why are so many military-campaign books lacking maps?
One of the best Civil War accounts I've ever read!
Loved his entire series on the Civil War
It was another good read by Catton.
The first Civil War book, I ever read.
My favorite history book of all time.
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Catton was known as a narrative historian who specialized in popular histories that emphasized the colorful characters and vignettes of history, in addition to the simple dates, facts, and analysis. His works, although well-researched, were generally not presented in a rigorous academic style, supported by footnotes. In the long line of Civil War historians, Catton is arguably the most prolific an...more
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Mar 16, 2010 09:01am
updated Mar 16, 2010 10:39am