James M. McPherson is an American Civil War historian and also a Pulitzer Prize winner for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. This book is packed with details but mostly about the political movements that initiated and supplemented the war efforts on behalf of the Union and Confederacy. McPherson's prose is easy to understand and he is not ever at a loss for words. This book is very long and is geared towards to the nation of readers who relish data and text about the Civil War. Along with the political overtones, he does not neglect the military details and reflects on the social aspects of the people who lived through this time.
I listened to this as an audiobook and it was as if I was on the sidelines of history. As I listened, my definition of the American Civil War changed from an adolescent view to a scholarly view that brought into view the exact details that encompassed the events of the time. The author
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James McPherson is able to give a great insight into the history of the Civil War but in my opinion his data is staunchly Unionist. He is a true scholar, but it seems that his view of the Civil War was extremely biased. He neglects the reality that the northern soldiers were fighting for the preservation of the Union and not the abolishment of slavery. His sources came from both sides however it was clear to me that I was listening to the prose of a historian who preferred the northern side of history. He believed the foundation for the war was slavery, when to me it really came across as being about the Union elitists and their economic