Found his entire series on the ivil War captivating, extremely readable

A Great Conclusion

I was a ten year old when the first book in this centennial series was released and purchased by my father. Nearly sixty years later I began to read my way through the series. Book 3 is just as wonderfully presented as the first and second books in the series. A fascinating time in America’s history brilliantly captured by the wonderful efforts of Mr. Catton.

This third volume of "The Centennial History of the Civil War" trilogy was published in 1965. Catton was the leading Civil War historian of the post-WW2 era, and this trilogy was the capstone of his career. He was a brilliant narrative historian.

This volume starts in early 1863. The emancipation proclamation was issued on January 1. It ended any illusion or dream that the war could be ended without ending slavery. Grant began his slog down the Mississippi towards Vicksburg and the Army of the Potomac got ready to again try to pin down and destroy Lee's army. Catton takes the story through the surrender at Appomattox and stops just after Lincoln's assassination.

These are wildly dramatic times and Catton captures them well. He is a master at the quick character sketch.

"Even in a crowd, Grant seemed always alone",

"Of military capacity, to be sure, General Benjamin Butler possessed not a trace, but he was a lifelong Democrat who had whole heartily defected to the radicals, so in an election year he had to be used; and it was sheer bad luck that he held a spot that was pivotal to Grant's whole Virginia campaign."

"Grant always thought in terms of opposing armies, and Sherman thought geographically."

This series is not simply a military history. Catton wrestles with the political and social forces driving the war. Slavery is in the middle of everything. The North wrestles with whether this is a war for slavery or Union. The South knows that this is a war to maintain a slave society.

Towards the end of the war, when the Confederacy is running out of soldiers, certain confederate leaders talk about arming slaves to fight for the South. Confederate General Howell Cobb put his finger on the contradiction in the middle of the Southern Cause, "If slaves will make good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong."

Some of the battle sequences seem perfunctory, which is surprising because his Grant books and his "Army of the Potomac" trilogy are classics of battle descriptions. It almost seems that at this point in his career he wanted to do more than recreate battle stories.

This is still the best narrative history of the Civil War.

Love Civil War History and Catton is one of the best.

Bruce Catton is still my go-to writer of Civil War books. His work might be somewhat out of date, but you can't beat the elegant style, the sharp details, the ability to make it all fascinating and easy to understand. I like that, in this Centennial series, with so much ground to cover, he avoids getting overly deep into the battles. He strikes a good balance between military, political and cultural history. And, considering that Catton had already written about these final two years of the war in two other books, he keeps it all fresh and interesting.

One of four books I found at a church garage sale. All four for a dollar! I enjoy reading old books and I'll write about this one when I finish.

Turns out, this is book three of a trilogy. If I like it, I may have to look up the other two.

Final volume of the Civil War history. It tkaes the reader from the period of late 1862 and the Battle of Fredricksburg through Lee's surrender and Lincoln's assassination but leaves the question of reconstruction alone. He only hints at how difficult it will be and how unique a position Grant and Sherman left the country in - that is, an honorable peace (for the defeated) that really made it unlikely that there would be continued guerilla fighting in the years ahead. Had they been more vindictive that might have been an end to the Republic.

The end of a remarkable series on the Civil War. Beautifully written and informative.

Stands the test of time

Discovered Bruce Carton a few years ago. Read through this book (and the preceding two in the series) during the pandemic and thoroughly enjoyed them. Still good and insightful summaries of the U.S. Civil War: factually accurate and entertaining as well.

Read all 3 books in this trilogy over the last 6 months and just wondering how long is long enough before I read them again.
Mr Catton has facts at his disposal that many other Civil War authors have had before and since, and yet.. the turn of phrase, the beauty of the language... exquisite.
Given the size of the trilogy it may not appeal to those who aren't really enthralled with this epoch in American History, but given the echoes from 160 years ago in our current world, it is still worth your time. We have come so far and yet, not nearly far enough, and I remain dumbfounded how people think we can hide how this country was built on the backs of enslaved people and set up countless generations of continuing repression, inequality and systemic racism.

The last volume in the series. A great read and a wonderful background to the politics and diplomacy of a very complex series of events. It places the military campaigns against that context and I understand so much more about the events and the personalities than I did before I started. It is the military aspects of the conflict that fascinate me and I will approach the history of the conflicts significant battles now better informed. A great piece of written history N accomplishment, required reading for anyone with an interest

So ends a 1500 page journey started this summer. Catton's prose crescendos with the final chapter. Truly an historical and literary achievement.