Themes of the American Civil War

by Susan-Mary Grant (Editor), Brian Holden-Reid (Editor), James M. McPherson (Introduction)

Themes of the American Civil War offers a timely and useful guide to this vast topic for a new generation of students. The volume provides a broad-ranging assessment of the causes, complexities, and consequences of America's most destructive conflict to date. The essays, written by top scholars in the field, and reworked for this new edition, explore how, and in what ways, differing interpretations of the war have arisen, and explains clearly why the American Civil War remains a subject of enduring interest. It includes chapters covering four broad areas, including The Political Front, The Military Front, The Race Front, and The Ideological Front.

Additions to the second edition include a new introduction—added to the current introduction by James McPherson—a chapter on gender, as well as information on the remembrance of the war (historical memory). The addition of several maps, a timeline, and an appendix listing further reading, battlefield statistics, and battle/regiment/general names focuses the book squarely at undergraduates in both the US and abroad.

Genres: Civil War

424 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Susan-Mary Grant, Ph.D. (University of London), is Professor of American History in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at University of Newcastle, England. She co-founded and is the current Chair of the association of British American Nineteenth Century Historians (BrANCH), is an officer of the Scottish Association for the Study of America, and serves on the editorial board of Nations and Nationalism.

Reviews

[teohjitkhiam]

I do not claim any expertise in the history of the American Civil War but only note that the book offers a panoramic view of the conflict, accounting for its contemporary political, economic, social, & cultural drivers & subsequent impact on the U.S.; during & long after the war.