Winner of the Bancroft Prize: Through a gripping narrative based on massive new research; a leading historian reshapes our understanding of the Civil War. Our standard Civil War histories tell a reassuring story of the triumph; in an inevitable conflict; of the dynamic; free-labor North over the traditional; slave-based South; vindicating the freedom principles built into the nation's foundations. But at the time; on the borderlands of Pennsylvania and Virginia; no one expected war; and no one knew how it would turn out. The one certainty was that any war between the states would be fought in their fields and streets. Edward L. Ayers gives us a different Civil War; built on an intimate scale. He charts the descent into war in the Great Valley spanning Pennsylvania and Virginia. Connected by strong ties of every kind; including the tendrils of slavery; the people of this borderland sought alternatives to secession and war. When none remained; they took up war with startling intensity. As this book relays with a vivid immediacy; it came to their doorsteps in hunger; disease; and measureless death. Ayers's Civil War emerges from the lives of everyday people as well as those who helped shape history―John Brown and Frederick Douglass; Lincoln; Jackson; and Lee. His story ends with the valley ravaged; Lincoln's support fragmenting; and Confederate forces massing for a battle at Gettysburg. 27 illustrations; 1 map
#370181 in Books Aleksandr Fursenko 1998-08-17Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x 1.20 x 6.20l; 1.30 #File Name: 0393317900420 pagesOne Hell of a Gamble Khrushchev Kennedy and Castro 1958 1964
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. FASCINATING READBy H. GrayGreat read if you're interested in that period of American History. Both the Russian and Cuban perspectives were new to me. The movie "13 Days"; while presumably accurate; was seen more through the eyes of Kenny O'Donnell (advisor to Kennedy) and played by Kevin Costner. His name wasn't mentioned once in the book so I assume there was some historical licensing taken in the movie. By the way: Good movie; however.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Exciting and very detailed consideration of the Cuban missile crisis ...By Ross WilsonExciting and very detailed consideration of the Cuban missile crisis and what came before (and after) that fully incorporates the Soviet perspective based on Soviet archives. Quite insightful; though the tale that emerges is; if anything; more terrifying than the picture we had at the time.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. UniqueBy Kindle CustomerUnique information and points of view overcome a slightly awkward prose style and set it apart from most accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
