5 comments about Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company.

1. This book gives insight into one of the American literary greats. There are times that the book drags, but I think this is due as much to the author as to the fact that some moments in Bierce's life are so interesting that when you read about the "average" moments in his life, you are left, well , bored. This is a good book for a Bierce fan or someone that would like to learn about an American writer who, deservedly, lived in the shadow of Twain.



2. "Bitter Bierce" they called him because of his scathing sarcasm. After the Civil War, in which he fought valiantly for four years, he went to San Francisco and began writing for the Hearst newspapers. Satire was his game. He wrote a couple of decent short stories ("Chickamauga" and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"), THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY, and that's about it (other books, mainly short story and poetry collections, have been forgotten, in some cases unfairly so). His wit, as revealed in the DICTIONARY is clever, but at times sophomoric. Influenced by Poe, many of his stories deal with the supernatural and are laced with horror. He disappeared in Mexico in 1913 and was never seen again. Speculation, from suicide to fighting for Pancho Villa, has been rampant ever since. Morris does a good job relating the events of Bierce's strange life, who must have been a very difficult man to know.



3. I am perfectly aware that to say that Ambrose Bierce was the most original, provocative and fascinating of all American writers (not to say the most brilliant of all) is like preaching in the desert. It is probably going to cost me a lot of negative feedback to say what I'm going to say, so I won't extend myself more than what it is absolutely necessary in order to speak my mind.
   
   The main reason for me to write this review is that this laughable biography by Roy Morris is so flagrantly detrimental on Bierce's accomplishments that I personally didn't want to lose the opportunity to advise you against reading such a lot of blather. The author even puts an awful novel like "The Red Badge of Courage" above Bierce's war stories (hilarious, isn't it?). After that, what else can be said about this biographer's ineptitude? Let's draw a veil over it and forget it.
   
   Anyone wishing to know something about the skilled artistry and posterior influence of the Ohio writer would be better looking for another book written by someone who had actually grasped Bierce's significance. But the best thing to do is reading Bierce's stories on your own and make up your mind about them instead of losing your time with the prejudices and lack of perspective of others.
   
   After reading some passages of this book, I reassure myself in my opinion that literary critics are, well, funny...
   
   In a world where mediocrity runs rampant and where authors like Mark Twain and the hideous Henry James have always been praised, it is difficult that really worthy authors like Bierce can find the recognition they deserve. But, perhaps, it is better that way, I don't know.
   
   What I know for sure (because I've seen it) is that, when a genius is born, all nefarious souls tend to ally themselves against it. Anyway, how could a writer like Bierce be enjoyed by a majority? It's impossible.
   
   Well, I don't think this review is gonna get anywhere, so I'd better stop here. Thank you for your reading.
   
   Note- sorry for any bad grammar on my part. I don't usually write in the language of the "Empire".



4. Conventional wisdom and history books have it that Ambrose Bierce died in Mexico during the Revolution. But Morris, in this in-depth biography, offers a fairly plausible alternative. (Sorry, not giving the store away as part of the review; you're going to have to get your hands on this book.)
   
   Much of the rest of the speculation in which Morris engages is psychological. He first analyses Bierce's childhood and parents, then takes note of his Civil War head wound, and wonders just how much the two of these things combined to contribute to the Ambrose Bierce we know today.
   
   That said, while not denying either childhood or adult causes of personality development -- or personality change -- I give more credence to genetic causes, i.e., the ideas of evolutionary psychology, properly applied.
   
   I find it likely that Bierce was pretty much born with tendencies toward the character he later exhibited. His upbringing and his war wound may have intensified it, but I think he came by much of his cynicism naturally. Life events probably added the dollop of churlishness to it.
   
   I teeter on a rating and end up at 4 stars. If I were to fine tune, it would probably be about 3 2/3 stars. The psycho-speculation is interesting, but in addition to being incomplete, if not somewhat wrong, too much of a focus on it means less focus on historical biography or on literary analysis.



5. Morris' biography of Bierce is thorough and has a lot of insight, but one thing that irritates is the implication that Bierce is not a "major" writer. There's even a a blurb on the book jacket from some critic at the Washington Post referring to him as a "lesser" writer.
   
   Are you kidding? Bierce wrote at least four or five of the greatest short stories in American literature. He pioneered the idea of showing readers that they weren't paying attention; he explored near-death experience masterfully in "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"--as well as delivering a scathing criticism of war; he wrote the most riveting Civil War story of all time, "Chickamauga," and he inspired dozens of modern and postmodern writers--Hemingway through Joseph Heller.
   
   Yes, Bierce's work was inconsistent. But so was Twain's, Crane's, and the work of dozens of other "major" writers.
   
   The best Bierce criticism is Richard O'Connor's _Ambrose Bierce: A Biography_, published in 1967. If you're interested in Bierce, read that one first.

2 comments about Doctor Quintard, Chaplain C.S.A. and Second Bishop of Tennessee: The Memoir and Civil War Diary of Charles Todd Quintard.

1. A smorgastborg of material - a memoir, a short diary, generous identifying footnotes, a lengthy bibliography, a name index - present the war and post-war experiences of Charles Todd Quintard. Read this for a sense of the fervent religious climate of the times and one of the great men who nurtured it.



2. I truly enjoyed this book. Is the personal narrative of rev. Charles Todd Quintard who fought for the Confederacy in the Army of Tennessee. Dr. Quintard had several good uses in the army: one is that he was a doctor that had practiced medicine, another is that he was a fine chaplain. He had some personal friendship with some of the Confederate generals. One night he and General Kirby Smith went together to a church. They both knelt and prayed that the war would soon come to an end. These are stories that I will never forget. Dr. Quintard published a little devotional book called "Balm For The Weary and The Wounded". He sent this little booklet out to the men in the Army of Tennessee. Sam R. Watkins who wrote "Co. Aytch" praised Quintard highly for helping to lift the spirits of the men. Quintard ran several Confederate army hospitals.
   This book is great reading for fun and information.

No comments about The Butcher Burbridge.

1 comments about When the World Ended: The Diary of Emma LeConte.

1. Though Emma writes from the perspective of the losing side of the Civil War, and though her beliefs on race clash greatly with our times, her persistence in the face of horrible suffering is a magnificent example to us all. She stands as testimony to the powerful spirit of the South and of Southern women in particular. Were we as committed to the ideals of our day as she was to those of her day, ours would be a powerful society indeed. Her diary is all the more shocking when you realize that she was only seventeen when she began writing

1 comments about The Life of General Stonewall Jackson.

1. This book tells about young Thomas Jackson as an orphan in Ohio. He went to many different places like his Uncle Brake's. In the end he went to West Point.

   As a lieutenant in the United States Army, he performed an amazing win over the Mexican forces. He was an artillery officer, and with his light artillery went toward the strong castle of Chapultepec. The Mexican troops killed or wounded all his unit except Jackson and another man. The two of them with two cannon weakened the fortress so much that the Americans stormed over the castle walls and took it.

   The book goes on about his career as an officer and general in the Confederate Army.

   I liked this book because it was pretty interesting. I didn't like this book because it made you feel like you were in an airplane over the battle, and not really at the battle. That is why I gave it only three stars.

No comments about The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War: A Regimental History.

5 comments about Touched With Fire: Five Presidents And The Civil War Battles That Made Them.

1. In his latest book, Touched With Fire: Five Presidents and the Civil War Battles that made them, James M. Perry has given us a glimpse into the wartime efforts and heroics of five men who later occupied the Oval Office of the White House.

   Presidents Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, and McKinley were all soldiers in the Civil War, and all had exposure to enemy fire at some point during the war (Hayes was wounded four separate times during the course of the war, though none of his injuries was life-threatening).

   In my opinion, Perry has given us a good reading of Civil War history, including an introduction to some battles that are not often heard of (such as Garfield's involvement at The Big Sandy Valley battle in Kentucky). However, Perry gives short shrift to U.S. Grant, who was the only professional military officer to become President, and to McKinley, who was but an 18 year old Private when he enlisted at the outbreak of the war.

   Perry's writing is lively, and gives the reader a nice vision of what was going on not only on the battlefield, but also in the minds of these five men. He closes the book by giving us a brief glance into the political careers (however short, bland or corrupt their administrations may have been) of these men as well.

   I enjoyed reading the recounts of the battles and the actions taken by these men immensely, and I would highly recommend the book to anyone that is looking for a good understanding of the military years of Garfield, Hayes, or Harrison. With the shortcomings given to Grant and McKinley, I think that a more exhaustive biography would better provide an adequate picture of their wartime activities.




2. James M. Perry's "Touched With Fire" is a highly readable popular history of the wartime service of the five U.S. Presidents who were veterans of the Civil War. The story of U.S. Grant is well-known, but Perry performs a real service for Civil War fans in illuminating the careers in uniform of Rutherford B. Hays, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley. With the exception of Grant, a West Point graduate with prior service in the regular Army during the Mexican War, each of the other four was caught up from civilian life by the outbreak of war, served in volunteer Midwest infantry regiments, and turned out to be brave and reasonably competent officers. McKinley initially enlisted but earned a battlefield commission. Each was noted for bravery and battlefield leadership. Of each it could be said that their wartime service was critical to their post-war political careers. Of the five, only McKinley was a successful President, although in fairness, Garfield served only a few months before being assassinated.
   
   What may be of topical interest for the present day reader is Perry's commentary on how deeply the prosecution of the war divided the North. A significant fraction of Northern politicians and their followers opposed the war effort, whether on grounds of sympathy with the Confederacy, partisan rivalry with the newly ascendant Republican Party, a distaste for the liberation of slaves, or exhaustion over the high cost in blood and treasure of combat. The desperate political infighting necessary to push to completion President Lincoln's agenda of reuniting the country and freeing the slaves translated into a post-war landscape in which the Republicans waved the "bloody shirt of rebellion" at the Democratic Party to win all but two Presidential elections between 1868 and 1908. Like any other era of politics, power tended to corrupt, and the "Gilded Age" of the late 1800's was renowned for its corrupt political practices.
   
   "Touched By Fire" is easily accessible to the general reader; Perry's narrative is entertaining and backed by solid if generally derivative scholarship.



3. This is a book we Civil War fans needed. Grant,Hays,Garfield,Harrison and Mckinley. I think Chester Arthur also served but he wasn't in any battles. Being from Cumberland Maryland it's interesting to note that Mckinley and Hays were both in town the night Crook and Kelly were captured by McNeils rangers. Hays is probably the most combat experienced, himself being at South Mountain and The Shenandoah. Harrison was with Sherman in Georgia but was at the Battle of Resaca a pretty intense battle itself. Garfield saw some fighting in Kentucky and Chickamauga and Mckinely was at Antietam and Shenandoah. But you should read the story it's quite good and i guarantee adventure on every page.



4. I am a big fan of Civil War histories. I have more than 75 fiction and non-fiction Civil War books on my bookshelf (mostly non-fiction) so I am hardly a newbie to this area. When I comment that this is a new angle, I an really saying something.
   
   It's not that James M. Perry has uncovered new documents or new information, but he has re-shuffled the "same old" information into a new pattern. In this case, he has focused on the five Presidents that fought in the Civil War. Perry includes a modest pre-war biography of each of the men and then goes into greater detail on their war experiences. The level of detail is neither skimpy nor excessive - he strikes a nice balance.
   
   As a group, they all had many things in common. To a man, they all became competent officers of brevet Major or higher, they all had extensive combat experience in the Western theater (although Hayes and his men were transferred to the Eastern theater) and they were all Republican (Perry does point out that the Democrats did run Civil War veterans, but none were successful).
   
   Mercifully, Perry does not cover the entire career of U.S. Grant since his Civil War biography would essentially be a re-telling of the war itself and his war biography would dwarf those of the other four combined. Instead, he begins with Grant at Forts Henry and Donelson and only chooses to include him again when he interacts in the lives of the other four. The other four are hardly a homogeneous group, despite all being Republicans. Their temperaments range from stoic and quiet to loud and openly scheming. Their ages range from 18 to 38 and previous military experience range from a West Point education to none at all.
   
   Perry includes a chapter at the end telling the post-war political history of each of the five men which is also a basic history of Gilded Age politics. Perry points out the powerful influence that Civil War veterans groups such as the Grand Army of the Republic had.
   
   Interesting. Easily accessible. Worth the read by Civil War buffs and devotees of the Presidency.



5. Most of this book is very interesting but there are a few slow areas. Even so it is worth the read. A wonderful glimpse into the military lives of our Civil War Veteran presidents, from the General to the private.

5 comments about Civil War in the Ozarks.

1. Treats some of the stories of the Civil War in the west without explaining the larger issues. This is an inexpensive book, but not necessarily a good value.



2. This book is designed for the average guy or gal off the street (from high school age to adult)to learn the bare basics about Ozarks Civil War heritage. Elite scholars may find it too simple, but hey... history belongs to all our citizens, not just professors and other professionals.



3. A "must read" for anyone interested in the Civil War in general, and the Civil War in the Ozarks region in particular. I especially liked Steele's writing style. Steele has a talent for delivering a lot of historical information while keeping the reader turning the pages wanting to know more. A very good book!



4. "Civil War in the Ozarks" by Phillip W. Steele is an excellent read, and is written for the average reader who wants to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the Civil War. I enjoyed this book!



5. Recommend your read this one and recommend you add it to your collection. This work covers aspects of the Civil War often times overlooked. I is a wonderful starting place for a study of the War in this part of the country. Needless to say, it does need to be supplemented with further reading, but it is certainly a good start. Highly recommend

2 comments about Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution.

1. Charles Royster is one of the premier historians on the period of the American Revolution. He has done excellent work on the Continental Army and he knows his business.

   This volume is no different. Lee is one of the celebrated personalities of the Revolution, especially for his excellent service in the southern theater under Nathaniel Greene. Commanding a green-uniformed legion of infantry and cavalry, he performed superbly with the main army and working happily with Francis Marion and his partisans harrying the British and Tories in the South Carolina back country.

   The first part of the book covers this portion of Lee's life. To me it was the most interesting, the Revolution in general and the Continental Army in particular being two of my favorite subjects. however, the rest of the book covers Lee's later life, which steadily went downhill after the Revolution's ending, with bouts of debt, sickness, failure, and an early death. Lee, the father of Robert E., is an interesting, sad figure, egotistical, patriotic, more than competent, and somewhat politically naive.

   Royster presents Lee as a whole person, and deftly intertwines his tale with Revolutionary exploits, first hand accounts, family and financial problems, and brings the legend into line with the man's humanity, frailties, and strengths.

   This book is a must for all interested in the Revolution and one of the most fascinating personalities to grace the American stage in the 18th century.




2. I was hoping for basically a biography of Lee's war time exploits but this book goes a lot further. The author does devote a good portion of the book to Lee's Revolutionary War time but also to his life after the war. Much research and commentary goes into this period of Lee's life to include his flawed business practices, which ultimately lead to his imprisonment for not being able to pay his debts. Overall a good biography of the father of Robert E. Lee but it is slow in some areas. RECOMMENDED.

1 comments about The Human Tradition in the Civil War and Reconstruction.

1. The Human Tradition In The Civil War And Reconstruction brings alive a decisive period in American history, examining the realm of generals and others and using the lives of fourteen selected individuals to examine personal experiences during Reconstruction on both sides of the issue. This college-level text reveals the abolition movement's influences, the roles played by blacks during the war, and the experiences of military individuals alike.