No comments about John Brown: "The Thundering Voice of Jehovah".

No comments about The Real Lincoln: A Portrait (Abraham Lincoln).

1 comments about Most Famous Soldier in America: A Biography of Lt Gen Nelson a Miles 1839-1925.

1. All people who are interested in US history should read this book

No comments about Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy (Cobblestone the Civil War).

1 comments about The Confederacy's Forgotten Son : Major General James Lawson Kemper, C.S.A. (Confederate Biography).

1. This was a great book to read. It was very well written and easy to follow. I learnd a great deal about the civil war and the part Kemper played in it.

No comments about The Ewing Family Civil War Letters.

No comments about Robert E. Lee: Duty and Honor (Cobblestone the Civil War).

2 comments about In the Footsteps of Robert E. Lee (In the Footsteps Series).

1. Armchair historians and civil war enthusiasts, it's again time to arise from your La-Z-Boy recliners and hit the Civil War trail. This time you will follow in the footsteps of Marse Roberts from his birth through his early days in the army to visiting the White House in 1869 when he payed a brief visit to President Grant.

   With 11 states, Washington D.C. and the brief inclusion of sites in Mexico you will need to spend several weeks going from site to site. However, the author breaks down the trips by state and gives excellent directions that will keep even the novice historian from loosing his way. You will be taken to several larger, well-known sites in West Virginia and Virginia as well as many smaller sites within these states and distant states such as Texas, Missouri and Florida.

   Many have been to Sharpsburg, Manassas or perhaps South Mountain but it's doubtful that few have made it Stratford Hall where Lee was born. Therefore, it's fitting that the book starts out at Stratford Hall and gives brief insight into the life and lack of homeownership by Lee. From his birth in 1807 to his death in 1870, he never owned a single place of residence. He slept at his parents' home, army barracks, his wife's inherited house, and several homes borrowed from individuals during and after the war. He never paid out of pocket for any property on which he resided.
   
   The research within these pages is top notch and gives the reader some excellent side bar material to whet his or her appetite for more on Robert E. Lee. The descriptions are concise and to the point and give just enough detail to allow the reader to understand how the specific location played a key role in shaping young Lee or perhaps how it effected his overall battle strategy in his later years. The accounts are well done and not overly detailed giving the average reader a nice foundation for a beginning study on Lee. The chapters are well laid out, state by state, but in order to keep this data from filling several volumes it does not include every little site associated with Lee. Not to worry, the author chose wisely and the selected material flows quite nice.
   
   In going through this work the reader will enjoy his or her journey into Lee's past with stops along the way at several key historic areas. This is not a paperback for the hard-nosed historian, but well-done research for those interested in following in "The Footsteps of Robert E. Lee". Mr. Johnson has done it again and I highly recommend this book!




2. In The Footsteps Of Robert E. Lee by Civil War history buff Clint Johnson is both a comprehensive travel guide to many historical sites connected to the Civil War Southern general Robert E. Lee, as well as a collection of stories that reveal the importance each site had with regard to Lee's character. From Harpers Ferry in West Virginia to the famous court house at Appomattox, In The Footsteps Of Robert E. Lee is a comprehensive, "user friendly" guidebook filled with the most fascinating bits of historical trivia. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the career of this amazingly skilled Civil War general and memorable historical figure.

5 comments about Dancing Along the Deadline: The Andersonville Memoir of a Prisoner of the Confederacy.

1. Ezra Hoyt Ripple served the Union as a private in the 52nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. He spent 9 months in Andersonville and Florence prisons as a prisoner of war. "Dancing Along the Deadline" is his detailed account of his experience in these infamous prisons, written originally for his family, then published during his lifetime. Mr. Ripple commissioned Civil War veteran and war correspondent James E. Taylor to illustrate his memoirs with drawings that depict scenes that he describes. This edition of "Dancing Along the Deadline" contains 55 of Mr. Taylor's black and white drawings, captioned by the author. Ezra Ripple worked closely with James Taylor on these excellent drawings to ensure their accuracy, and they help the reader immensely in forming a mental picture of what the prisons and their residents actually looked like.

   In "Dancing Along the Deadline", Ezra Ripple paints a detailed picture of the conditions which captured Union soldiers endured inside Confederate prisons. As starvation was the greatest hardship, Ripple writes a lot about how the prisoners acquired food and how they made the most of it. He describes the physical layout of the prisons, the prisoners' routines, the prison guards and administrators, and his interaction with them. Although Andersonville was the Confederacy's largest and most infamous prison -and Ripple attests to its ruthless commandant- Florence prison actually had a higher death rate, in spite of its more sympathetic administration. And Ripple might have died there if not for his skills as a fiddler. He and several other prisoners formed a string band which performed for the officers and at local social gatherings. Ripple's memoirs are characterized by his general lack of malice toward his jailers. He was a religious man and a staunch patriot, so those are the eyes through which we see his world. He doesn't lump the Confederates who imprisoned him and his comrades into one "enemy" group. He criticizes the behavior of some, praises the character of others, and places the ultimate blame for the dreadful conditions in Confederate prisons on Brigadier General John H. Winder, who was in command of the prisons and whose goal seemed to be to bring all of the prisoners to their deaths. Although Ripple describes a lot of horror within the walls of Andersonville and Florence prisons, he claims to have omitted some "horrible details" of which "common decency" forbids mention. Reading his memoirs, I think we can guess what some of those "details" might have been.

   "Dancing Along the Deadline" is required reading for anyone interested in the Civil War. And it's an interesting account of how people endure the unendurable and then how one man looked back on it. The "deadline" of the title is the line running around the outskirts of the prisons which any prisoner would be shot for crossing.




2. The story starts out with a flash a telling of dates and numbers relevant to the story. Then he continues on to tell of his experiences in the army and the description of his capture. He is on a mission to attack a confederate fort when he and others of his regiment are captured. They are soon taken to a confederate prison to which most will not return. As he becomes accustom to the surroundings he realizes the true horror and struggle he will face to survive. With each passing day he learns new tricks to survive as other prisoners pass away. These tricks and his luck help him succeeded in surviving. His luck is great at times, first he is asked to play the violin for the confederate officers and declines, a poor choice, then a fellow prisoner asks him to play a song for him and he is paid in food and drink. As he plays more and more for the prisoners he earns their respect. This respect will grant him many gifts as he spends more and more time in the prison. He soon describes other events and rules in the prison such as a punishment for thieves was to have half the head shaved so that all who saw him would know he was a thief and punish him in such a way to make him regret such a poor choice. One trick used to smuggle food in was when the wood crew went out to cut wood they'd be allowed to bring in one log of their own as payment. They often times would bring in hollow logs and the confederates wondered why. They never found out the true reason until one day when a member of the wood crew stumbled and dropped him log, all the beans hidden in the hollow log were spilt across the ground. The wood crew while out cutting wood would buy beans off local slaves or anyone willing to sell for a much cheaper price than the prison and smuggle them in to eat or sell. Ezra's story continues when he tries his hand at escaping which unfortunately fails horribly. In the end he's is released and sent back to his home in the North.
   Ripple does a great job of describing his story while in prison. It has its up and downs though. The detailed description and the pictures he drew help you to get a full understanding of what he went through. The bouncing between past and present makes the story confusing and tricky to understand. He goes from being in jail to after the war, to the reunions of the prisoners he went to. All these descriptions make the story hard to follow, but add to the feeling. Other than those few shortfalls it's an incredible book.
   I would definitely recommend this book to others. This is great story of overcoming death and hopelessness to survive and come home again. This is an incredible tale of a man's overcoming of the worst odds through faith and hope. If you're interested in the civil war or just interested in stories of conquering the worst odds, then this is a book for you.



3. The story starts out with a flash a telling of dates and numbers relevant to the story. Then he continues on to tell of his experiences in the army and the description of his capture. He is on a mission to attack a confederate fort when he and others of his regiment are captured. They are soon taken to a confederate prison to which most will not return. As he becomes accustom to the surroundings he realizes the true horror and struggle he will face to survive. With each passing day he learns new tricks to survive as other prisoners pass away. These tricks and his luck help him succeeded in surviving. His luck is great at times, first he is asked to play the violin for the confederate officers and declines, a poor choice, then a fellow prisoner asks him to play a song for him and he is paid in food and drink. As he plays more and more for the prisoners he earns their respect. This respect will grant him many gifts as he spends more and more time in the prison. He soon describes other events and rules in the prison such as a punishment for thieves was to have half the head shaved so that all who saw him would know he was a thief and punish him in such a way to make him regret such a poor choice. One trick used to smuggle food in was when the wood crew went out to cut wood they'd be allowed to bring in one log of their own as payment. They often times would bring in hollow logs and the confederates wondered why. They never found out the true reason until one day when a member of the wood crew stumbled and dropped him log, all the beans hidden in the hollow log were spilt across the ground. The wood crew while out cutting wood would buy beans off local slaves or anyone willing to sell for a much cheaper price than the prison and smuggle them in to eat or sell. Ezra's story continues when he tries his hand at escaping which unfortunately fails horribly. In the end he's is released and sent back to his home in the North.
   Ripple does a great job of describing his story while in prison. It has its up and downs though. The detailed description and the pictures he drew help you to get a full understanding of what he went through. The bouncing between past and present makes the story confusing and tricky to understand. He goes from being in jail to after the war, to the reunions of the prisoners he went to. All these descriptions make the story hard to follow, but add to the feeling. Other than those few shortfalls it's an incredible book.
   I would definitely recommend this book to others. This is great story of overcoming death and hopelessness to survive and come home again. This is an incredible tale of a man's overcoming of the worst odds through faith and hope. If you're interested in the civil war or just interested in stories of conquering the worst odds, then this is a book for you.



4. This book was good as far as memoirs go. It was a good read, and I learned a lot about the prison life during the Civil War. This book was about how horrible prison life was during the Civil War. This book takes place mainly in two prisons, and possibly two of the worst prisons, Andersonville and Florence.
   The whole book was about the Civil War; mainly it talks about Ezra Hoyt Ripple's exploits in a Civil War prison, and how horrible the conditions were in the
   prisons in the South. Ezra, and a few other soldiers from his regiment were captured during the siege of James Island, and sent to the prison in Andersonville. Ezra goes through his horrible ordeal with his three closest comrades in prison, John Rapp,
   Michael Beavers, and John Brennan. Ezra is an amateur violin player, and in prison that can get you some respect, food, and even more freedom. In Andersonville, as with many Civil War prisons, disease was rampant, and many hundreds of people died every day, from diseases such as the fever, scurvy, dysentery, cholera, and the flu. The prison guards at Andersonville are particularly mean to the prisoners, because the prisoners are Union men, and the Confederate soldiers hated them for being so. The book describes in excruciating detail how prison life was harder for the Union soldiers in captivity, then it was for the Confederate prisoners. The people in these prisons had to deal with an insufficient amount of clothes, poor shelter, horrible weather conditions, and barely enough food rations to live. It's a wonder that anyone made it out of these prisons alive for being in the prison after an extended period of time.
   This book's strengths are its main theme, which is how horrible prison life in the South was during the Civil War, and the storyline is interesting. The theme has a lot of textual backup, because the whole book relates to the main theme, I thought it worked well how Ezra tied events that happened in the book to the theme of the book. The pictures he drew were helpful to try to visualize what was going on. It is written well, and is as interesting as a memoir can be. It is a good war book, because the things written about are real events experienced by the author of the book. What I liked about this book was that it was very realistic, and that it actually happened, which makes it more tragic.
   This book's weaknesses are that it is kind of wordy, and at times difficult to read, because of the many lapses in the action. This book could be better if it talked more about the more interesting parts, because most of the good action parts are only briefly mentioned, whereas the most boring, lame events are talked about extensively. What I didn't like about this book was that it was sort of boring, and very descriptive of the diseases, which is, in my opinion, disgusting.
   Overall this book is a very good read as far as memoirs go, and I recommend it to anyone that needs to read a memoir, or that just likes to read war books. It is entertaining, and is very real. It takes you to the Civil War days, so you can understand what it was like for these freedom fighters.



5. This book was good as far as memoirs go. It was a good read, and I learned a lot about the prison life during the Civil War. This book was about how horrible prison life was during the Civil War. This book takes place mainly in two prisons, and possibly two of the worst prisons, Andersonville and Florence.
   The whole book was about the Civil War; mainly it talks about Ezra Hoyt Ripple's exploits in a Civil War prison, and how horrible the conditions were in the
   prisons in the South. Ezra, and a few other soldiers from his regiment were captured during the siege of James Island, and sent to the prison in Andersonville. Ezra goes through his horrible ordeal with his three closest comrades in prison, John Rapp,
   Michael Beavers, and John Brennan. Ezra is an amateur violin player, and in prison that can get you some respect, food, and even more freedom. In Andersonville, as with many Civil War prisons, disease was rampant, and many hundreds of people died every day, from diseases such as the fever, scurvy, dysentery, cholera, and the flu. The prison guards at Andersonville are particularly mean to the prisoners, because the prisoners are Union men, and the Confederate soldiers hated them for being so. The book describes in excruciating detail how prison life was harder for the Union soldiers in captivity, then it was for the Confederate prisoners. The people in these prisons had to deal with an insufficient amount of clothes, poor shelter, horrible weather conditions, and barely enough food rations to live. It's a wonder that anyone made it out of these prisons alive for being in the prison after an extended period of time.
   This book's strengths are its main theme, which is how horrible prison life in the South was during the Civil War, and the storyline is interesting. The theme has a lot of textual backup, because the whole book relates to the main theme, I thought it worked well how Ezra tied events that happened in the book to the theme of the book. The pictures he drew were helpful to try to visualize what was going on. It is written well, and is as interesting as a memoir can be. It is a good war book, because the things written about are real events experienced by the author of the book. What I liked about this book was that it was very realistic, and that it actually happened, which makes it more tragic.
   This book's weaknesses are that it is kind of wordy, and at times difficult to read, because of the many lapses in the action. This book could be better if it talked more about the more interesting parts, because most of the good action parts are only briefly mentioned, whereas the most boring, lame events are talked about extensively. What I didn't like about this book was that it was sort of boring, and very descriptive of the diseases, which is, in my opinion, disgusting.
   Overall this book is a very good read as far as memoirs go, and I recommend it to anyone that needs to read a memoir, or that just likes to read war books. It is entertaining, and is very real. It takes you to the Civil War days, so you can understand what it was like for these freedom fighters.

5 comments about The Generals: Ulysses S. Grant & Robert E. Lee.

1. I'm a bit of a history buff, but would never have read this book without the prompting of a friend whom I respect. I struggled to get throught the first 50 pages, but after that I was hooked. Not only do I understand Grant and Lee better, but I feel I understand the USA better. A great story and a window on our nation. Recommended for anyone with the patience and time to peel back the layers of our past.



2. I'm surprised this book doesn't get more press. I found it very informative regarding Grant's and Lee's personal and professional lives, but I also learned a lot about 1800's American culture as well...and I'm hardly a novice when it comes to the Civil War-era. Seeing as one Anderson is a college professor and the other is a journalist, "The Generals" is immaculately written, an all-too-often rarity concerning history books nowadays. The fact that the book is such a smooth read puts it ahead of the other Grant/Lee bios out. The Andersons' are economical writers, communicating in a few hundred pages what other long-winded folks take volumes to say. As far as the mildly negative Library Journal review goes, I wonder if that has anything to do with the Andersons' refusal to pull punches when speaking of the frailties of both Grant and Lee. These long since dead men are idealized to such an extent today that it's hard to get a feel for the people they really were. After reading "The Generals," I feel that I know both Ulysses Grant and Robert Lee, triumphs failures and draws, as well as I'm ever going to. If you're tired of reading the same old stories about Honorable Lee or Stubborn Grant, and want to get a deeper understanding of two of the most important men in American Civil War, give "The Generals" a shot. Happy reading!



3. There is no other way of putting it: I found this book perfectly appalling. I had thought that Geoffrey Perret's biography of Grant was the last word in historical sloppiness, but the Andersons have managed to wrest that dubious prize from his fingers. I am not a Lee expert, so I cannot say how accurate that section of this book is, but their chapters dealing with Grant are a joke. (And why is it that both the Andersons and Perret felt the need to include snide attacks on Grant's wife, Julia? Although the woman was undoubtedly no beauty, she was, by all accounts, a perfectly delightful person who was a warm, loving, and immensely supportive spouse to her oft-troubled husband. When did it become popular among third-rate historians to slander her?)

   This book is so ludicrously inaccurate and fanciful that I would be amused if it were not for the fact that many unwitting readers are obviously led to unquestioningly accept this mishmash. Even a certain web site devoted to Grant has, I noticed, adopted a couple of this book's weirder claims (such as the bizarre, and completely fictional, idea that Julia accused Grant of adultery during the two years he spent on the West Coast,) and presented it as fact. It is frightening how much damage an inaccurate biography can do to the historical record.

   Avoid this book at all costs!




4. Let's make reference to the review printed below, which slams this book and claims it is baseless nonsense. Actually this book is readable, generally accurate and can introduce Grant and Lee to the broad range of people who know nothing about either of them. Is this historical biography of the highest realm? Hardly, but it lays no claim to that mantle. Instead, it's an entertaining book which does not slam Julia Grant, USG's wife, in the slightest. In fact, the book extols her support of her husband and focuses a great deal of attention on Grant's famously happy marriage. The sections on Lee are inferior to the chapters on Grant, but adequate. The format is rather crippling, as the authors seesaw between the two titans. One wonders why they didn't concentrate their forces on one instead of two?

   Finally, the website mentioned by the previous reviewer is mine. As for the "completely fictional" notion that Julia suspected USG of being enamored of other women while on the West Coast, the reviewer needs to consult some other works on Grant before making this absurd claim. Read Grant's letters from the period before attacking the Andersons for presenting facts. Did Grant cheat while separated from his wife? Never. Did she worry about it? You betcha, and that's what this book presents. Case closed.




5. I did not want to put this book down and I really liked the way the authors did a section on Grant then on Lee and would switch back and forth. It seemed like I was reading an adventure novel in that sense with the Civil War as the adventure and tragedy. It really presented the human sides of Grant and Lee and made them more real to the reader.