Joshism
Captain
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2012
- Location
- Jupiter, FL
By "modern authors" in context of this thread I mean published nonfiction works from the 1980s through today.
Subject should be a Civil War event or individual. Lets eschew causes of the war, slavery, and Reconstruction in this thread. Those largely have their own side forums and each could probably support a thread of their own given how contentious the subjects are.
By "unfair" I mean those you think have either made a historical subject look much better or worse than the facts warrant, perhaps due to the authors bias. Or who have argued a thesis about Civil War events you don't feel is supported by facts, either ignoring information that contradicts their thesus or perhaps because you perceive the author has an agenda.
A few of the better known examples I can think of:
1. Stephen Sears has been criticized for being too pro-Hooker and even moreso for being anti-McClellan.
2. Wiley Sword was well-know for his extreme disdain for Hood, views which have not aged well following Sam Hood's book.
3. Grant has been the subject of a lot of books in recent decades. Some are very fair reevaluations, others might try to present an excessively positive portrayal. Then there's Chernow's biography which has been criticized as turning Grant's life into a story of "triumph over alcoholism." Brooks Simposon's biography seems the fairest treatment of Grant's life (now if he could only finish the second volume!).
4. Tom Carhart's Lost Triumph became kind of infamous for arguing really hard for something that isn't supported by the historical record. Stephen Sears' Gettysburg includes a much more grounded description of East Cavalry Field in context of the battle, and I'm sure Eric Wittenberg's Defending The Flank provides a more detailed treatment of the subject.
If you can, when pointing out examples of books that you think got their subject wrong, also what book(s), preferably also modern, that you think got the same subject right.
I welcome our members who hold more contrarian views to use this thread as an opportunity to give examples of published works that align with their thinking.
Subject should be a Civil War event or individual. Lets eschew causes of the war, slavery, and Reconstruction in this thread. Those largely have their own side forums and each could probably support a thread of their own given how contentious the subjects are.
By "unfair" I mean those you think have either made a historical subject look much better or worse than the facts warrant, perhaps due to the authors bias. Or who have argued a thesis about Civil War events you don't feel is supported by facts, either ignoring information that contradicts their thesus or perhaps because you perceive the author has an agenda.
A few of the better known examples I can think of:
1. Stephen Sears has been criticized for being too pro-Hooker and even moreso for being anti-McClellan.
2. Wiley Sword was well-know for his extreme disdain for Hood, views which have not aged well following Sam Hood's book.
3. Grant has been the subject of a lot of books in recent decades. Some are very fair reevaluations, others might try to present an excessively positive portrayal. Then there's Chernow's biography which has been criticized as turning Grant's life into a story of "triumph over alcoholism." Brooks Simposon's biography seems the fairest treatment of Grant's life (now if he could only finish the second volume!).
4. Tom Carhart's Lost Triumph became kind of infamous for arguing really hard for something that isn't supported by the historical record. Stephen Sears' Gettysburg includes a much more grounded description of East Cavalry Field in context of the battle, and I'm sure Eric Wittenberg's Defending The Flank provides a more detailed treatment of the subject.
If you can, when pointing out examples of books that you think got their subject wrong, also what book(s), preferably also modern, that you think got the same subject right.
I welcome our members who hold more contrarian views to use this thread as an opportunity to give examples of published works that align with their thinking.