NPR American Chronicles: The Civil War

By: NPR

Narrated by: Neal Conan

NPR captures the battlefield action, the personal struggles, and the moral dilemmas of the war that pitted brother against brother (and sometimes sister) and friend against friend. This revealing collection of Civil War stories features gripping history, expert commentary, and unforgettable voices:

• Shelby Foote reflects on the southern perspective
• E.L. Doctorow discusses Sherman and The March
• Sam Waterston performs the Gettysburg Address
• Hal Holbrook honors Iowa in the Civil War
• Susan Stamberg reports from Lincoln's summer retreat
• James McPherson tours Gettysburg's hallowed ground
• Tony Horwitz explores the world of Civil War reenactors

Plus visits to battlefields at Manassas, Antietam, Gettysburg, and much more.

Contents:

• "Introduction" by Neal Conan
• "Manassas/Bull Run"
• "Historian Shelby Foote"
• "Geraldine Brooks' Civil War March"
• "History of 'Dixie'"
• "Confederates in the Attic"
• "Antietam"
• "Viewing the Emancipation Proclamation"
• "Gettysburg's Hallowed Ground"
• "Old Army Friends, Divided At Gettysburg"
• "Gettysburg Eyewitness"
• "Gettysburg Address Read by Sam Waterston"
• "Henry Fleming, Reluctantly Wearing the Red Badge"
• "Woman Fought Like a Man for Freedom"
• "Civil War Reporters"
• "Historians Search for Civil War Relics"
• "Civil War Relics Tempt Thieves"
• "Living History at Lincoln's Summer Retreat"
• "E.L. Doctorow on Sherman and The March"
• "April 1865"
• "Letters from Civil War Era Tell the Price of Freedom"
• "Iowa in the Civil War"
• "What It Means to Be Free"
• "The Civil War Still Stirs the Southern Soul"
• "Union Soldier Comes Home"
• "Appomattox"
• "At Ford's Theatre, Lincoln's Death Revisited"
• "O Captain! My Captain!"
• "'Battle Hymn of the Republic', the Other National Anthem"

The NPR American Chronicles series explores the historical events that continue to resonate in our lives. Expert commentary and unforgettable stories create vivid sound portraits of history's greatest people and events, examined in multi-faceted and moving detail.

©1988-2011 National Public Radio, Inc. (P)2011 National Public Radio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The episodes are uniformly engaging and create a 'you-are-there' atmosphere." ( AudioFile Earphones Award winner)