The Civil War

By: Bruce Catton

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

For a person seeking a single volume to serve as a captivating introduction and a dependable guide through all the maze of battles and issues of the Civil War, this is an audiobook without parallel. Bruce Catton understood the Civil War - its participants and battles - and he unfolds it with skill and simplicity. Of all historians past and present, Bruce Catton ranks among the best.

©1960 by American Heritage, Inc. (P)1991 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"[The Civil War] is everything we have come to expect from the practiced hand of Bruce Catton: scholarly, judicious, clear, and unfailingly interesting. It would be difficult to find a better introduction to the Civil War than this book.

A Good Account of the War.

Enjoyed the clean accurate account of everything in the war. It has a clean story and the Narrative does it credit. All and All it was well done.

Informative

A well done short version of the civil war. Very informative. A great general introduction to the war.

Good book, mediocre delivery

The account seems detailed enough to provide a novice on the topic, like me, a solid overview of the American civil war.
I first wondered if it was read by one of those software programs that does narration for some YouTube videos. The delivery is very mechanical, dry, and a bit monotone. It was easy to hear and understand. Just seemed to lack any passion, emotion, or personality.

The Civil War

Excellent! Succinct, articulate and professionally read. Bruce Catton is truly one of the greatest writers of Civil War History.

Loved the story but not the narration

I’ve always been intrigued with the Civil War. This book had much more information & detail than my prior knowledge of people & events during the war. I only wish I had actually read it, rather than listened to it on Audible. The narrator was quite monotone and I had to rewind several times because his performance just couldn’t capture me 100%. Other than that - if you are interested in the Civil War, definitely read it; you will learn more!

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

THE WAY THAT BRUCE CATTON SUMMARIZES HIS 3 VOLUME WORK IS MASTERFUL. HE BOILS IT DOWN TO THE ESSENTIALS A


,AND

Incredible Narrative of our Civil War Bruce Caton

Caton did a phenomenal job of wrapping up the complexities of the American Civil War in this narrative. Yet more amazing was he wrote this book in the early 60s as our country had still not come to terms with racial equality, and regrettably still shouldered the heavy handed oppression and brutality of African Americans in Southern States.

Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!

A 5-star book in my opinion. A truly realistic and sensitive and meaningful book about the Civil War. The narration was outstanding. Good understanding of both North and South's views. Highly recommended.

Great detail for such a broad subject

I really enjoyed this book. It was well organized with a surprising amount of detail for attempting to cover the entirety of the civil war. It does a good job of describing the events leading up to the war and the politics behind the scenes, as well as the personalities of the commanders. The final battles seemed a little abbreviated to me. I did not care for the delivery of the narrator as much. It was a very plodding reading and overly articulated. But I would wholeheartedly recommend this book for someone who wants the complete history in one book.

Engaging

Carton’s prose combined with the great narration in very engaging. I was reminded why the Civil War was such a momentous event that still haunts us.