NF New Longstreet Book

[Library Lady]

Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South by Elizabeth R. Varon was released on November 21, 2023. A number of reviews follow.

Booknotes: Longstreet

Non-fiction Civil War book reviews, commentary, publishing news, author interviews, and profiles

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LONGSTREET | Kirkus Reviews

A biography of the Confederate general whose support of constitutional rights for Black Americans after the Civil War enraged Southern critics and ignited a campaign to destroy his reputation.None

www.kirkusreviews.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982148276/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

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www.publishersweekly.com

I put Publishers Weekly last because I'm going to step all over my own post. The first book on their list, Sailing the Graveyard Sea: The Deathly Voyage of the 'Somers,' the U.S. Navy's Only Mutiny, and the Trial that Gripped the Nation by Richard Snow, sounds really interesting if you like mayhem at sea and courtroom procedurals as I do.

 

[TallTallMan]

No thanks. I've grown weary of "Longstreet Syndrome".

 

[Library Lady]

No thanks. I've grown weary of "Longstreet Syndrome".

I respect that, @TallTallMan . I just want to let the Longstreet fans here who haven't yet bagged their limit know that there is more out there to be had.

 

[GELongstreet]

Have ordered it as well (had a gift card). The book finally crossed the ocean and has arrived a few days ago but I have not read it yet, may take a few weeks (or months) as usual.

 

[Jamieva]

Based on an interview the author did with the Abe Lincoln book shop, she focused much more on his post war years than previous biographies. It's in my stack of books to read but I'm on volume 1 of Hartwig's antietam so it will be a while

 

[51st Georgia]

for me the jury is out on Varon. I have yet to read her Appomattox book but I have to say I get very suspicious when a review states that a Civil War book "has lessons for today's political climate". Maybe unfair but it does give me pause.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

This turned up on the New Biographies shelf at my local library. They don't get much Civil War stuff, but this one got published by Simon & Schuster so I guess it's mainstream enough.

Only 128 of 364 pages cover Longstreet's life up through Appomattox. The rest is postwar.

I find that the wartime chapters are a bit uneven. Second Bull Run gets about a page, despite the controversy of Longstreet's inaction; the Gettysburg Campaign gets a chapter. And the Confederates went looking for shoes myth is still marching on. The Gettysburg chapter also spends a surprising amount of space on the capture of African-Americans by Lee's army, disproportionate to Longstreet's connection with the subject.

 

[TallTallMan]

This turned up on the New Biographies shelf at my local library. They don't get much Civil War stuff, but this one got published by Simon & Schuster so I guess it's mainstream enough.

Only 128 of 364 pages cover Longstreet's life up through Appomattox. The rest is postwar.

I find that the wartime chapters are a bit uneven. Second Bull Run gets about a page, despite the controversy of Longstreet's inaction; the Gettysburg Campaign gets a chapter. And the Confederates went looking for shoes myth is still marching on. The Gettysburg chapter also spends a surprising amount of space on the capture of African-Americans by Lee's army, disproportionate to Longstreet's connection with the subject.

I was reading about that ugly subject in Reading the Man today.

 

[Jamieva]

This turned up on the New Biographies shelf at my local library. They don't get much Civil War stuff, but this one got published by Simon & Schuster so I guess it's mainstream enough.

Only 128 of 364 pages cover Longstreet's life up through Appomattox. The rest is postwar.

I find that the wartime chapters are a bit uneven. Second Bull Run gets about a page, despite the controversy of Longstreet's inaction; the Gettysburg Campaign gets a chapter. And the Confederates went looking for shoes myth is still marching on. The Gettysburg chapter also spends a surprising amount of space on the capture of African-Americans by Lee's army, disproportionate to Longstreet's connection with the subject.

I encourage you to check out some youtube interviews with her about the book, those choices were very purposeful. Her book focused more on his post war career, because she felt other bios of him gave his post war career the short end of the stick in covering it, and they focused too heavily on just the war years. Here's a good one:

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Her book focused more on his post war career, because she felt other bios of him gave his post war career the short end of the stick in covering it, and they focused too heavily on just the war years.

Which I knew going in and which she makes clear in the Preface. The page count was as observation, not a criticism.

 

[Jamieva]

Which I knew going in and which she makes clear in the Preface. The page count was as observation, not a criticism.

Understood, but based on your earlier post she gave it even less coverage than I expected. Still, it's on my stack to read.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I'm 2/3 of the way through this book and struggling to finish it. The section about Longstreet during Reconstruction felt like it was too much about Reconstruction and not enough about Longstreet. I think I just don't have the stomach for Reconstruction politics these days. I've gone this far so I'm going to forge ahead and hope the last part is more satisfying.

 

[SSVilla]

My favorite confederate general for obvious reasons and an interesting character of his time regardless. This book is right up my alley since the campaigns per se are only secondary to my main interest which is always about the characters themselves and their interactions with each other in the context they lived in.

I have a few others ahead in line to read through. but I added it to the list. Thanks for sharing.

 

[huskerblitz]

This is the book I'm currently listening to. First bio of Longstreet so I don't think it's too bad.

 

[jackt62]

I am almost finished reading this book. Author Varon spends much time discussing Longstreet's post-war career and his relationship with the Republican Party and Reconstruction. I find her account helpful as it fills a gap in my knowledge. Longstreet is often characterized as being persona non grata in the southland because of his willingness to support the Republican Party and accept various political appointments. While true, the full story is much more complex and fascinating according to Varon's research. The rise of Lost Cause ideology, the attempt to create a "white" southern Republican party, and Longstreet's relationships with former comrades are all intertwined during Longstreet's long and contentious life after Appomattox. While acknowledging Varon's sympathies to Longstreet and the northern perspective, there is much in this narrative to hold one's interest.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Finished today.

Longstreet's widow had quite the life.

Interesting assertion that what really caused Longstreet to be reevaluated was Killer Angels.

I felt like Longstreet's postwar political motivations were consistent and sincere. The book puts Longstreet into the context of the time period.

However, it felt to me like something was lacking from the narrative. I'm not sure if it's insufficient private papers to draw from as sources (thus limiting how much we can get inside Longstreet's head), Varon's writing style, or simply that the postwar subject matter was just not my jam. Maybe all three.

 

[Pat Young]

Good book. Her coverage of the war assumes you have read a fair amount about the war and at least know a little about Longstreet. Her post-war is the best that I have read. She really does not go into Longstreet before the war much and she needed to go a bit further on his relationship with his uncle, who was a leading defender of slavery.