“This exhaustively researched; well-paced book should take its place as the new; standard biography of the ill-tempered man who helped save the Union: It is fair; judicious; authoritative and comprehensive.â€â€”The Wall Street Journal “A welcome and significant addition to the ample literature on the Civil War and Reconstruction.†—Ron Chernow; author of The New York Times bestseller Alexander Hamilton Walter Stahr; award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Seward; tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s indispensable Secretary of War; Edwin Stanton; the man the president entrusted with raising the army that preserved the Union.Of the crucial men close to President Lincoln; Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814–1869) was the most powerful and controversial. Stanton raised; armed; and supervised the army of a million men who won the Civil War. He organized the war effort. He directed military movements from his telegraph office; where Lincoln literally hung out with him. He arrested and imprisoned thousands for “war crimes;†such as resisting the draft or calling for an armistice. Stanton was so controversial that some accused him at that time of complicity in Lincoln’s assassination. He was a stubborn genius who was both reviled and revered in his time. Stanton was a Democrat before the war and a prominent trial lawyer. He opposed slavery; but only in private. He served briefly as President Buchanan’s Attorney General and then as Lincoln’s aggressive Secretary of War. On the night of April 14; 1865; Stanton rushed to Lincoln’s deathbed and took over the government since Secretary of State William Seward had been critically wounded the same evening. He informed the nation of the President’s death; summoned General Grant to protect the Capitol; and started collecting the evidence from those who had been with the Lincolns at the theater in order to prepare a murder trial. Now with this worthy complement to the enduring library of biographical accounts of those who helped Lincoln preserve the Union; Stanton honors the indispensable partner of the sixteenth president. Walter Stahr’s essential book is the first major biography of Stanton in fifty years; restoring this underexplored figure to his proper place in American history.
#4847726 in Books 2016-01-19 2016-02-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.30 x 1.20 x 6.20l; 1.18 #File Name: 1473851750320 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Peninsular War from the perspective of the British solider in the ranksBy D. WilliamsA very readable account of a proud British line regiment that heretofore has not gotten the attention it deserves. Their battle record stands almost alone among the very best that fought for Wellington in the Peninsula campaigns.The author does a great job of bringing the reader into the midst of a typical British regiment at the time. We learn about the stream of officers moving in and out of the unit who came from a variety of backgrounds; the daily routines of the soldiers; and recruits brought into the ranks from the 2nd Battalion in Nottinghamshire to replenish losses. Among the latter were many Irish who fought alongside English. Of course; the book also closely follows the regiment from Ireland to Argentina; and then back to the British Isles before making its journey to Portugal and Spain. There are excellent accounts of all of the many battles that give you a perspective from the soldier in the ranks and their officers. Outstanding research and well written too.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I recommend the book for students of the periodBy Justin M. NicholsonIf you have seen the big picture of the Peninsular War; this is the little picture. The book follows a single battalion through the years of conflict. You will read about the comings and goings of individual officers and others; and there was a lot of that. Of particular interest is the perspective on the war from the point of view of lieutenants and captains rather than generals. There are some typographical errors that some sub-editor missed; but it is otherwise well written. I recommend the book for students of the period. It is about as close to a description of the war from ground level as we are likely to get.
