The historiography of the American Civil War is challenging, to put it lightly. A major event like a civil war, especially one on this scale, is almost always a recipe for a complex and controversial historical memory as the violent reckoning echoes through subsequent generations. The history of the American Civil War is even more fraught than most and perhaps the single greatest rebuttal to the notion “History is Written by the Victors”. For a century after the war’s conclusion in 1865 the history of the war was primarily written by the losers - ex-Confederates and their sympathisers crafted a narrative known as The Lost Cause that largely shaped the public understanding of the conflict. Flying in the face of basic fact this narrative discarded vast amounts of evidence in favour of a story that made the Confederacy sympathetic, a nation suffering for its freedoms against an oppressive industrialist neighbour. The Lost Cause had counternarratives that pushed back against it but it really took until the mid-20th century for its status to start cracking. Even still, though, it is still hanging on with surprising tenacity. Attending school in central Virginia in the early 2000s I was taught Lost Cause myths as history, although thankfully a better teacher later undid that work.
Battle Cry of Freedom is not about the Lost Cause but its very existence is in many ways a blow to that narrative. First published in 1988 and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize the following year, this single volume history of the American Civil War remains one of, of not the, best histories of the conflict as a whole. That it clocks in at over 850 pages of text, not counting index or bibliography, should tell you what a gargantuan task this is. I grew up in a culture steeped in the stories and myths of the American Civil War but while I could name a dozen generals and battles I had never really gotten a full sequence of the war straight in my head. That was what I wanted out of Battle Cry of Freedom, help in putting my jumbled knowledge of the American Civil War into a coherent whole. I got that and more - so much more.
The most apt word to describe Battle Cry of Freedom is impressive. Primarily a narrative history, McPherson takes you from the 1830s through 1865 providing all the essential context you need for why the war came about, the backgrounds to many of its major characters (but not all, as there are so so many), and then following the war through its completion. Chapters generally alternate between pure military history, describing the major campaigns of the war, and discussion of the political, economic, and logistical challenges each side faced at the same time as the campaigns. This is one of the book’s greatest strengths. While at times I found myself just wanting to get back to the exciting war bits (I’m terrible I know), I have to admit that the book would be much worse without the politics and economics. Military campaigns didn’t come out of nowhere, there were very often important political and economic considerations that underpinned the strategic decisions that commanders had to make - and there was often an tension between political leaders and generals about what to do at key points in the war. McPherson does an excellent job at presenting the complexity of the war in very easy understand terms.
Okay, well, maybe not so easy to understand? I have to confess I’m completely unable to judge just how approachable a book Battle Cry of Freedom is. Having read it I feel like it’s a great introductory history to the American Civil War, one that almost anyone (or anyone prepared to read over 800 pages of military history) could pick up and get a relatively robust understanding of the war from. However, as I’ve confessed several times now I grew up on this stuff. I knew who almost all the generals mentioned in the book were before I picked it up ( although some recognition must be given to States Rights Gist, who caught me totally by surprise. That’s his real name folks, look it up). This means that while My instinct is that Battle Cry of Freedom is a great history for anyone interested enough in the subject to tackle it’s length, and I can definitely recognise that McPherson is an excellent writer whose prose is top notch, I must acknowledge my own limitations when it comes to this subject. I don’t know enough about what a normal person knows about the Civil War to be confident in my judgement!
Overall, I would highly recommend Battle Cry of Freedom to any military history enthusiast. I’ve mentioned its length several times and that’s because I do think it is the only significant drawback to recommending it. It’s not that the length is undeserved, honestly McPherson does an admirable job fitting so much history into the pages he has, but at the same time it took me a long time to read and I was kind of exhausted by the time I was finished. I am so glad I read it and I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes my list of favourite books I read this year, but also I’m in no rush to read it again.