Sherman Sherman book?

[randoke]

What are some favorites? Bios, campaign books, pretty much anything.

I'm a Southerner who is a Sherman fan. Ducking now.

 

[Jamieva]

Southern Storm by Trudeau which is the best book about the March to the sea

 

[KansasFreestater]

I really loved Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman.

The writer has a brisk, engaging style -- well suited to his brisk, engaging subject!

 

[Sid J.]

Marszaleks bio and also _Shermans other War: The General and the Press_.
_Shermans Civil War_ Brooks Simpson Editor.
_Marching with Sherman_ Henry Hitchcock.

 

[LittleGuy1864]

I recommend Sherman Fighting Prophet by Lloyd Lewis in addition to what's been mentioned above.

Rebecca

 

[KansasFreestater]

Marszaleks bio and also _Shermans other War: The General and the Press_.
_Shermans Civil War_ Brooks Simpson Editor.
_Marching with Sherman_ Henry Hitchcock.

Sherman's Civil War is great because it's Sherman in his own words, consisting entirely of letters he wrote to his wife, brother, other generals, etc., throughout the war. Sherman wrote as he talked, and boy oh boy, love him or hate him, he is not a boring fellow! Unlike his buddy Grant, who was quite circumspect, Sherman loved sharing his opinions on anything and everything. He was brilliant, I.Q.-wise, and while you may find many of his opinions quite mistaken, you'll see wrongheaded opinions side by side with some of the most brilliant, spot-on insights that you can imagine -- and all of them expressed with eloquence and punch.

Oh, what I'd give to sit around a table at an inn with a small group that included Cump Sherman, and drink beer and josh and argue till all hours of the night....

 

[Private Watkins]

Hard to go wrong with Sherman's own Memoirs if you haven't read them yet...

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4361/4361-h/4361-h.htm

 

[KansasFreestater]

Southern Storm by Trudeau which is the best book about the March to the sea

Yes, Southern Storm is wonderful because it is literally a day-by-day account of the march, taken mostly from the diaries of the soldiers who actually participated. We discover that an awful lot of what we think we know about that event is false or exaggerated propaganda that has been mindlessly perpetuated lo these many decades. Southern Storm is a much-needed and very welcome sort of antidote for the Gone With the Wind mythology.

If it makes any difference to you, @randoke, both Southern Storm and Sherman's Civil War, while being very good reads, and important books if you really want to understand Sherman, are both quite long -- 548 and 909 pages, respectively, exclusive of appendices, indexes and endnotes. If you would like a good, relatively quick read as an introduction to the man, Fierce Patriot, on the other hand, is 352 pages, exclusive of end materials. And it will give you an overview of Sherman's whole life, not just the Civil War part.

On the other hand, some people find the 3-part construction of Fierce Patriot distracting. If you want a more straight-line chronological biography (if less cracklingly written), I have heard good things about those by John Marszalek and B.H. Liddell Hart.

 

[rosefiend]

I bought Sherman's Memoirs as an audiobook because it said it was unabridged. Lo and behold, I found that it started at the burning of Atlanta. I was pretty steamed about that.

 

[Private Watkins]

I bought Sherman's Memoirs as an audiobook because it said it was unabridged. Lo and behold, I found that it started at the burning of Atlanta. I was pretty steamed about that.

Lol... I guess they thought that's about when he hit full feather so good enough. That would be a good one to have on audio, as well as maybe Grant's, provided you could get the true unabridged version...

 

[ole]

Sherman's Civil War is great because it's Sherman in his own words, consisting entirely of letters he wrote to his wife, brother, other generals, etc., throughout the war. Sherman wrote as he talked, and boy oh boy, love him or hate him, he is not a boring fellow! Unlike his buddy Grant, who was quite circumspect, Sherman loved sharing his opinions on anything and everything. He was brilliant, I.Q.-wise, and while you may find many of his opinions quite mistaken, you'll see wrongheaded opinions side by side with some of the most brilliant, spot-on insights that you can imagine -- and all of them expressed with eloquence and punch.

Oh, what I'd give to sit around a table at an inn with a small group that included Cump Sherman, and drink beer and josh and argue till all hours of the night....

It's what I liked about the book, KF. It is almost an autobiography. You can see Sherman reveal himself in his own words. No hysterion interprets what he says ... that's up to the reader.

 

[rosefiend]

Lol... I guess they thought that's about when he hit full feather so good enough. That would be a good one to have on audio, as well as maybe Grant's, provided you could get the true unabridged version...

That's what made me mad! I loaded it up, going, Oh boy, this should be really cool, and then I found out that just about the whole book was missing. Gaah! Okay I'm done now.

 

[randoke]

Yes, Southern Storm is wonderful because it is literally a day-by-day account of the march, taken mostly from the diaries of the soldiers who actually participated. We discover that an awful lot of what we think we know about that event is false or exaggerated propaganda that has been mindlessly perpetuated lo these many decades. Southern Storm is a much-needed and very welcome sort of antidote for the Gone With the Wind mythology.

If it makes any difference to you, @randoke, both Southern Storm and Sherman's Civil War, while being very good reads, and important books if you really want to understand Sherman, are both quite long -- 548 and 909 pages, respectively, exclusive of appendices, indexes and endnotes. If you would like a good, relatively quick read as an introduction to the man, Fierce Patriot, on the other hand, is 352 pages, exclusive of end materials. And it will give you an overview of Sherman's whole life, not just the Civil War part.

On the other hand, some people find the 3-part construction of Fierce Patriot distracting. If you want a more straight-line chronological biography (if less cracklingly written), I have heard good things about those by John Marszalek and B.H. Liddell Hart.

Thanks for taking the time to provide that detailed level of information.

 

[KansasFreestater]

Thanks for taking the time to provide that detailed level of information.

You're welcome!