Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital - Hardcover

Lankford, Nelson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670031178 ISBN 13: 9780670031177

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2002

Synopsis

The final days of Confederacy are chronicled in this richly rendered portrait of the buring of Richmond, with vivid scenes depicting the destruction of this proud Southern city and close-up profiles of the individuals who played a key role. 35.000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

When conquering Union soldiers entered Richmond, Virginia, in the first days of April, 1865, they found a city afire, reduced to desperation, but still defiant. Virginia historian Nelson Lankford reconstructs the final hours of the Confederacy's heart in this vivid narrative, which draws on contemporary letters, diaries, and official reports that share both immediacy and a sense of awe at the terrible destruction. Just why the capital burned has long been a subject of speculation; by Lankford's account, much of the damage was due to the defenders' last-minute efforts to destroy war materiel, setting fires that soon spread. Lankford attends to other legends as well, including a reported call on Confederate general George Pickett's home by none other than Abraham Lincoln, while offering verifiable vignettes of such moments as Robert E. Lee's return to the capital and the celebrations of newly liberated slaves and Union prisoners. Lankford's narrative offers a view much different from what he calls "the warm sepia glow cast over our great national trauma by popular books and documentary films." It is a fine effort, and one that students of the Civil War should welcome. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Nelson Lankford edits The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the quarterly journal of the Virginia Historical Society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0670031178
• ISBN 13: 9780670031177
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320