Second in the classic trilogy.

Volume 2

This is the second book in Bruce Catton's trilogy called The Centennial History of the Civil War. It is well-written and full of rich details. The first book in this trilogy is "The Coming Fury," which I also gave five stars. Now I look forward to book three, "Never Call Retreat."

Since I loved Ron Chernow's "Grant," I cannot wait for Grant to take over the Army of the Potomac in the next book, since McClellan is making such a mess of things. (And, oh, to read McClellan's arrogant letters home to his wife!)

Actually, I intended to start Catton's other trilogy that ends with "A Stillness at Appomattox," which is highly recommended, but got confused and started the wrong set. No matter -- this series is excellent so far and I will read the other set, too.

Bruce Catton is known as one of the best as well he should be. Very good read. Very much information about the relationships between generals and leaders. Once again McClellan comes off looking terrible. The aggressive Generals with bold moves seem to be the ones that one and endured. (Of course the aggressive ones that failed are not remembered much in history) but it seems like there was a lot of sitting around and hesitancy to fight. Not that I would have done any better.

2nd time through on this one, but it popped up at an easy time for me, so i went for about half it, but got fed about again with the 10,000th account of how amazing Lee is and how just dumb and silly all the northern commanders are. Maybe it's all true, but it has the ring of conspiracy and the authors biases come out with the relish of their Lee anecdotes: I shall suppress that lowly varmint! or words that effect... you just see them eating it up. Ok- but i think this relish is a bit revealing of a hero worship that kind of warps things again. Once more any mishap of the south is amazing bad luck and every mishap of the north is contemptible stupidity. I've sort of had enough of that story.

Have re read several times, loved his entire series on the Civil War

This is the second of Catton's Civil War trilogy, apparently picking up where his first, The Coming Fury, left off (I say apparently because I started with this one). I've never read Catton before but now I'm hooked on his work. He had a wonderful way of writing about history, bringing it to life with a great deal of humanity and a sometimes sardonically wicked sense of humor. He was a superb historian as well; he knew the Civil War and had an ability to write about it from the viewpoint not only of the generals and politicians, but from the common soldiers of both the North and South. This "every man's" touch helps to give his story a tenderness that merely writing about the concerns of "the professionals" would not have provided. Besides being a terrific source for learning about the Civil War from after Bull Run up to the time the War drew near its end, Terrible Swift Sword is a thrilling read. Catton captures the gritty sense of the battles, the urgency and uncertainty, the back-and-forth strategy of the commanders, as well as the fear all the soldiers fought their way through. If you are a history reader, or are interested in becoming one, get a book by Bruce Catton. (Warning: Like I, you'll probably want to hit General McClelland, commander of the Union Armies, with a large stick for being such a ridiculous, juvenile git!)

Bruce Catton's writing is so clear and beautiful to read. Here, he delves into the political developments that cause the US civil war to become harsher, to become "total war." Perhaps one of the most even-handed reviews of George McClellan, whose failures were a combination of time, place, egotism, political ineptness, self-delusion, self-inflected hysteria and delusion regarding the Confederate army, and the fact that the political tide was against him and those who believed like him, that is, the conservative Democrats of the North.

Our modern views of the civil war may at times take issue with Catton's ability to see all sides with equanimity; nevertheless, Catton's prose is easily among the best history writing. All historians have a slant--a point of view--and we as readers are obligated to understand the writer's perspective. Understanding perspective doesn't not mean to imply agreement.

For more modern perspectives, read James McPherson and Gary Gallagher, as well as HW Brands. US Civil War literature is as vast as there are perspectives on the war.

Second of Bruce Catton's three-book trilogy. A must-read for Civil War buffs!

4.5 stars. Having now read (actually re-read from 40+ years ago) the first two volumes of this fine series I have found myself imaging how daunting the idea of writing a complete history of the American Civil War must be. Yet Catton has pulled it off masterfully. Since this type of history covers a huge scope of time and place, and many of the battles covered in this book have subsequently have had books (written by others) dedicated to just that one battle. So the author must pick and choose, and attempt to keep the chronology of events which open happened hundreds of miles away from each other.

Fortunately the publisher made a significant improvement in the maps (always a requirement for histories such as this) compare the the first volume. In the first volume, The Coming Fury the maps appeared in somewhat arbitrary locations (often more than 100 pages from where a reader would reference that map), and the maps were printed with a washed-out red that made them difficult to read. In this volumes the maps are clearer, and are least group together in the middle of the book for easier access.

Book 2 begins with the unrest in Missouri and ends with Antietam and McCellan's dismissal. The battle descriptions are very short, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are plenty of other books out there if you want the minutia of the 7 Days or Shiloh. Read Shelby Foote or Stephen Sears.

The second to last section (Revolutionary Struggle) of chapter 2 (A Vast Future Also) closes with what may well be the finest writing on the war I've ever read. I continue to marvel at Catton's prose.

First, Catton's three volume history of the Civil War is for my money the best for the general reader, hands down. Look to "The Battle Cry of Freedom" for a masterful single volume treatment; or Shelby Foote's series if you want to know the particulars about Ulysses Grant's riverboat drinking benders or the specific military maneuvers that won or lost any battle in the war. But if you are a reader interested in knowing who the big players were in the Civil War, what they did and why they did it, look no further than Catton's series. I feel bad giving this four stars instead of five because the reason isn't Catton's fault: the narrative dawdles and "nothing big seems to happen" for a long time not because of the author but because that's what happened during that phase of the war (much to Abraham Lincoln's constant irritation). If the book wears on you at some points because you think you've been reading about the slow moving campaign to capture a particular river bend in Tennessee for 30 pages, it's probably because it took the slow moving Union generals six months to take it. Amazingly well done book, but a bit of slog at times to read.