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Controversies and Commanders
- Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
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Controversies and Commanders
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Publisher's Summary
Throughout the devastating years of the Civil War, the Union Army of the Potomac seldom marched in step. In this provocative book, acclaimed historian and award-winning author Stephen W. Sears takes a fascinating look at some of the intriguing Union generals and the controversies that swirled around them. Delving into historical documents and the personal papers of military officers, Sears shares the compelling stories of oft-maligned Generals McClellan and Hooker, the shocking court-martial of patriotic General Stone, the failed plots to kidnap Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and more.
As the facts come to light, the Union’s renowned leaders stand revealed as what they really were: ordinary men in the grip of extraordinary times. An authority on the Civil War, Sears skillfully paints a remarkable portrait of the personalities and events that shaped our nation’s greatest crisis. The rich analysis becomes ever more clear and accessible with Nelson Runger’s thoughtful narration.
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What listeners say about Controversies and Commanders
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-22-22
Not good
This is the most boring civil was book I have read or listen to . Dont waste your time or money.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jonn Bloyd
- 05-03-19
Excellent book!
Captivating, descriptive, worth the listen.... I highly recommended it to anyone interested in some of the 'unknown stories' of the civil war.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- wtvfd801
- 10-24-15
Spellbound
This book is one of the most in depth complete stories I have ever read concerning the complexities of life and warfare between two brilliant men of opposite beliefs.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 131
As we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln'sbirth in 2009, this work provides a genuinely novel, even timely, view of the most written about figure in our history. Tried by War offers a revelatory portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured. How Lincoln overcame feckless generals, fickle public opinion, and his own paralyzing fears is a story at once suspenseful and inspiring.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic Read
- By Chris Morin on 03-21-17
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Crucible of Command
- Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee - the War They Fought, the Peace They Forged
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 413
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 373
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 371
They met in person only four times, yet these two men determined the outcome of the Civil War and cast competing styles for the reunited nation. Each the subject of innumerable biographies, Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee have never before been paired as they are here. Exploring their personalities, their character, and their ethical, moral, political, and military worlds, William C. Davis finds surprising similarities between the two men.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Plutarch looks at Grant and Lee ...
- By Orson on 02-24-15
By: William C. Davis
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Embattled Rebel
- Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4 out of 5 stars 86
History has not been kind to Jefferson Davis. Many Americans of his own time and in later generations considered him an incompetent leader, not to mention a traitor. Not so, argues James M. McPherson. In Embattled Rebel, McPherson shows us that Davis might have been on the wrong side of history, but that it is too easy to diminish him because of his cause’s failure. Gravely ill throughout much of the Civil War, Davis nevertheless shaped and articulated the principal policy of the Confederacy - the quest for independent nationhood - with clarity and force.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting
- By Jean on 10-18-14
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Turncoat
- Benedict Arnold and the Crisis of American Liberty
- By: Stephen Brumwell
- Narrated by: Andrew Sellon
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
General Benedict Arnold's failed attempt to betray the fortress of West Point to the British in 1780 stands as one of the most infamous episodes in American history. In the light of a shining record of bravery and unquestioned commitment to the Revolution, Arnold's defection came as an appalling shock. Contemporaries believed he had been corrupted by greed; historians have theorized that he had come to resent the lack of recognition for his merits and sacrifices. In this provocative book, Stephen Brumwell challenges such interpretations and draws on unexplored archives to reveal other crucial factors that illuminate Arnold's abandonment of the revolutionary cause he once championed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Uniquely Informative
- By Brenda McAteer on 07-31-18
By: Stephen Brumwell
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Rise to Greatness
- Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year
- By: David Von Drehle
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
As 1862 dawned, the American republic was at death’s door. The federal government appeared overwhelmed, the U.S. Treasury was broke, and the Union’s top general was gravely ill. The Confederacy - with its booming economy, expert military leadership, and commanding position on the battlefield - had a clear view to victory. To a remarkable extent, the survival of the country depended on the judgment, cunning, and resilience of the unschooled frontier lawyer who had recently been elected president. Twelve months later, the Civil War had become a cataclysm but the tide had turned.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Deep Dive into 1862
- By Bubba Smith on 01-13-16
By: David Von Drehle
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General Ulysses S. Grant
- The Soldier and the Man
- By: Edward G. Longacre
- Narrated by: Jonathan Walker
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 89
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4 out of 5 stars 64
Despite his reputation for rash decisions, brutal tactics, and intemperate behavior, Ulysses S. Grant was the only Union general who could win the war for Lincoln. Grant's aggressive strategies, swift movements and uncompromising battlefield attacks were praised in the North, feared in the South, and reviled by many of his own associates and staff. General Grant is, perhaps, one of the most controversial, enigmatic, and misunderstood generals in our nation's history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Biography
- By Morgan on 07-14-11
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Jefferson Davis
- The Man and His Hour
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 30 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 133
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 122
This book paints a vivid picture of Jefferson Davis as a multifaceted, often charismatic man who mirrored the turbulent times in which he lived and who stood solidly for the South that he loved. Ranging over the complete span of his long life, it shows him as a hardworking Mississippi planter, a compassionate slave owner, a hero of the Mexican War, and an able secretary of war under Franklin Pierce. But it is on the years of the Civil War and Davis’s controversial performance as president of the Confederacy that the book focuses.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Could be more generous
- By margot on 06-12-13
By: William C. Davis
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The Drillmaster of Valley Forge
- The Baron De Steuben and the Making of the American Army
- By: Paul Lockhart
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
The image of the Baron de Steuben training Washington's ragged, demoralized troops in the snow at Valley Forge is part of the iconography of our Revolutionary heritage, but most history fans know little more about this fascinating figure.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great history good naration
- By Matthew on 11-18-08
By: Paul Lockhart
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The Leadership of Ulysses S. Grant
- A General Who Will Fight
- By: Harry S. Laver
- Narrated by: J. Scott Bennett
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
A General Who Will Fight is a detailed study of leadership that explores Grant's rise from undisciplined cadet to commanding general of the United States Army. Some experts have attributed Grant's success to superior manpower and technology, to the help he received from other Union armies, or even to a ruthless willingness to sacrifice his own men. Harry S. Laver, however, refutes these arguments and reveals that the only viable explanation for Grant's success lies in his leadership skill, professional competence, and unshakable resolve.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A quick focus on a interesting man
- By cosmitron on 07-11-18
By: Harry S. Laver
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The Guns of August
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,317
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,249
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,227
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful
- By Mike From Mesa on 10-28-08
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Master of War
- The Life of General George H. Thomas
- By: Benson Bobrick
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
In this revelatory, dynamic biography, Benson Bobrick, profiles George H. Thomas, arguing that he was the greatest and most successful general of the Civil War. Because Thomas didn't live to write his memoirs, his reputation has been largely shaped by others, most notably Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, two generals with whom Thomas served and who diminished his successes in their favor in their own memoirs.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Nutshell: Grant, Sherman bad – Thomas good
- By Dereck on 11-18-10
By: Benson Bobrick
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William Tecumseh Sherman
- In the Service of My Country: A Life
- By: James Lee McDonough
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,337
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,196
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,188
General Sherman's 1864 burning of Atlanta solidified his legacy as a ruthless leader. Yet Sherman proved far more complex than his legendary military tactics reveal. James Lee McDonough offers fresh insight into a man tormented by the fear that history would pass him by, who was plagued by personal debts, and who lived much of his life separated from his family.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very Fair and Balanced View of Sherman
- By Nostromo on 12-02-16
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A World on Fire
- Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War
- By: Amanda Foreman
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 32 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 158
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 130
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
Even before the first rumblings of secession shook the halls of Congress, British involvement in the coming schism was inevitable. Britain was dependent on the South for cotton, and in turn the Confederacy relied almost exclusively on Britain for guns, bullets, and ships. The Union sought to block any diplomacy between the two and consistently teetered on the brink of war with Britain. For four years the complex web of relationships between the countries led to defeats and victories both minute and history-making.
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5 out of 5 stars
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excellent narrative history
- By Daniel on 08-15-11
By: Amanda Foreman
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The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (Campaigns and Commanders Series)
- By: Edward G. Longacre
- Narrated by: Aaron Killian
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story5 out of 5 stars 37
When Union and Confederate forces squared off along Bull Run on July 21, 1861, the Federals expected this first major military campaign would bring an early end to the Civil War. But when Confederate troops launched a strong counterattack, both sides realized the war would be longer and costlier than anticipated. First Bull Run, or First Manassas, set the stage for four years of bloody conflict that forever changed the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. It also introduced the commanders, tactics, and weaponry that would define the American way of war through the turn of the twentieth century.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best book of this early battle
- By Bradley Behrhorst on 09-02-22
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The Collapse of the Third Republic
- An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 48 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 594
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 516
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Story5 out of 5 stars 515
As an international war correspondent and radio commentator, William L. Shirer didn't just research the fall of F