"Loved the detail"
Writing brought the details of people, events to life. Narration went well and gave emotion this story.
"Battle Cry of Freedom"
Excellent review of historical events - well described by narrator
I have a hard time reading/listening to true fiction books. I think this is because my main reason for reading is to learn and not necessarily just for enjoyment, although I do read many historical fiction books. Favorites history/biography books and science/tech info books.
"Read this and volume 2"
Great book. Lots of good interesting facts and a great overall history of the war from an unbiased perspective. Should engage anyone looking for a good history of the civil war.
I am a non-fiction kind of guy - focus is on military history and politics. Prefer apolitical tomes that hone in on facts not ideology.
"Precise history"
I would listen to this again because it is enlightening and entertaining. As a history buff I enjoy minute facts, and this has so very many of those.
It is written along the lines of works of other historians, such as Ambrose and Goodwin.
He kept me listening, and is a precise narrator.
"It is like Being There!"
McPherson takes us to a place few histories go - to the grit and venom that arose between 1840 and 1860. The tensions and bifurcation between North and South are explained in a way that I can see the same mind-set at work in 21st Century politics.
This book explores all the vectors that led to, carried us through, and brought us out of a conflict of minds, politics, and spirit.
"Definitve work on the civil war"
Undoubtedly the definitive work on the civil war. The reader does a good job holding the listeners attention. I have read this volume once and I do not tire of listening to it again.
"Dull"
Not in this series
Everyone else seems to believe that this is the book to read on the American Civil War. However, I found it difficult to wade through. Perhaps, if I wanted to study the war, intently....
"A thorough journey through a difficult time"
If my friend was looking for detail about the pre-civil war era, it is a must read
McPherson develops a balanced understanding about the diversity of facts and passions on both side of the conflict
I enjoyed it enough to move on to the next volume.
Steve (Walnut Creek, CA, USA)
"Engaging, Interesting"
I really enjoyed this book. As a kid, growing up in California, you get the impression that the primary cause of the war was whether or not slavery would be permitted in the South.
In college, as I developed a healthy cynicism, I concluded that it was essentially about whether or not states would be allowed to secede, and that slavery didn't have much to do with it.
In truth, it was a key issue. The war wouldn't have happened without it, nor would it have happened without Southern pride, or a decay over time in Southern influence due to the addition of more free states than slave states, and population growth in the North being more rapid, resulting in more representatives in Congress.
I didn't know any of this pre-war detail: attempts to make a slave zone around the Carribean, lots of effort toward make Kansas a slave state, etc.
The author frequently lists things said by both sides regarding an issue, then states whether or not there is enough objective evidence to support either claim. Like most political issues, there's truth and deception to both sides.
Narrator is fine.
A fan of Samwise Gamgee & John Calvin
"Best I've Read"
McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" is the one book on the Civil War that I would recommend as we approach the 150th Anniversary of the fall of Fort Sumter. Vol. 1 is objective and complete in its narrative of the events leading up to the Civil War, and its examination of the r??le of slavery in the southern psyche is a must-read for anyone who truly wants to understand why this war occurred.
The narrator of the audio version of the book is acceptable.