I´d like to highly recommend reading this book - it turned out to be a real eye-opener [albeit to me].
For quite a time now I am delving into Civil War books - mainly because I found it hard to get a consistent picture especially about the South
[which is extremely hard - especially for a "furriner" like me].
There are just so many contradicting parts, so many conflicting personalities, diverse motivations, different groups and interests...
I nearly gave up ever to achieve something like an oversight.
Some weeks ago "Look away!" was mentioned in another thread and I somehow felt I should give it a try.
I am now halfway through through the book and must say found it highly enlightening:
I cannot help but to me the way professor Davis looks at the South seems quite unique:
Personally I got the impression that he has quite a soft spot for the South -
but at the same time is perceiving very sharply everything that is to be criticized with the confederate experiment -
and he is speaking most frankly about it!
There are a lot of topics and questions that were intensely debated here in the forum - which I am feeling the book is answering quite definitely:
eg.
- Why was Richmond chosen as capital (and why it was just impossible then to make another choice)
- Who were the leading figures of the secession movement, what were their motivations and aims (and how were those differing from the attitudes of other groups and milieus in the South - which nonetheless expressed loyalties to the CSA)
- What was the rationale for secession, what was the legal interpretation in the South, what hopes and plans were linked with it, what expected Southerners from the North
- Why was the eastern theatre overrepresent - was it that overpresent respectively
- What exactly was the picture Southerners had from slavery - how perceived they the loyalties of the afro-american population
- How acted enslaved people and why chose some of them different strategies
- What were the differences regarding attitudes and strategies between states of the Deep South and the border states
- What influence had Lincoln´s actions on the secession movement and the tempers in the South
and on and on and on....
In short: It was a fascinating read!
For quite a time now I am delving into Civil War books - mainly because I found it hard to get a consistent picture especially about the South
[which is extremely hard - especially for a "furriner" like me].
There are just so many contradicting parts, so many conflicting personalities, diverse motivations, different groups and interests...
I nearly gave up ever to achieve something like an oversight.
Some weeks ago "Look away!" was mentioned in another thread and I somehow felt I should give it a try.
I am now halfway through through the book and must say found it highly enlightening:
I cannot help but to me the way professor Davis looks at the South seems quite unique:
Personally I got the impression that he has quite a soft spot for the South -
but at the same time is perceiving very sharply everything that is to be criticized with the confederate experiment -
and he is speaking most frankly about it!
There are a lot of topics and questions that were intensely debated here in the forum - which I am feeling the book is answering quite definitely:
eg.
- Why was Richmond chosen as capital (and why it was just impossible then to make another choice)
- Who were the leading figures of the secession movement, what were their motivations and aims (and how were those differing from the attitudes of other groups and milieus in the South - which nonetheless expressed loyalties to the CSA)
- What was the rationale for secession, what was the legal interpretation in the South, what hopes and plans were linked with it, what expected Southerners from the North
- Why was the eastern theatre overrepresent - was it that overpresent respectively
- What exactly was the picture Southerners had from slavery - how perceived they the loyalties of the afro-american population
- How acted enslaved people and why chose some of them different strategies
- What were the differences regarding attitudes and strategies between states of the Deep South and the border states
- What influence had Lincoln´s actions on the secession movement and the tempers in the South
and on and on and on....
In short: It was a fascinating read!
Bringing the