The Civil War: A Concise Account by a Noted Southern Historian - Softcover

McWhiney, Grady

Softcover

ISBN 10: 189311449X ISBN 13: 9781893114494

Publisher: State House Press, 2005

Synopsis

For nearly half a century, Grady McWhiney has stood in the foremost ranks of Civil War historians, receiving numerous honors and helping prepare a new generation of historians to carry on the task of understanding and interpreting the Civil War. Here, McWhiney presents a concise narrative that, says fellow historian John C. Waugh, "is comprehensive but still sings."

Says Eugene Genovese: "Grady McWhiney provides a responsible, judicious, well-balanced guide to the principal issues and personalities of America's most painful period." McWhiney's book, he suggests, "is a corrective to prevalent textbook biases and deserves wide classroom use."

William C. Davis adds, "The Civil War is not designed to be the last word on the experience and the era, but it contains virtually all of the first words needed to give a reader a considerable familiarity in a remarkably short time."

The Civil War stands on its own as a supplemental text or a quick read, but it also is a natural companion to 20 Good Reasons to Study the Civil War by John C. Waugh, published last year by McWhiney Foundation Press and available in paperback.

About this title

About the Author:

GRADY McWHINEY needs no introduction to readers of Civil War history. A distinguished writer, historian, teacher, and philanthropist, his career has spanned more than fifty years. His many publications include the highly regarded (and debated) Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South, Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage, and Battle in the Wilderness: Grant Meets Lee (McWhiney Foundation Press). He is in great demand as a scholar, speaker, and authority on Southern and Civil War history. McWhiney is also the founder of the Grady McWhiney Research Foundation, headquartered at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, where he currently resides.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

A Divided Nation. in 1894 President Zachary Taylor faced a national crisis. Thanks to the Wilmot Proviso, a bill introduced in Congress to prevent slaver in any territory acquired from Mexico, discussions over the question of slavery's expansion ruled politics. Sectional debate dominated the 31st Congress that assembled on December 3. In the House of Representatives surrounded by 112 Democrats, 105 Whigs, thirteen Free Soldiers held the balance of power. Southern Whigs, led by Georgians Alexander H. Stephens and Robert Toombs, opposed the Whig candidate for Speaker, Robert C. Winthrop of Massachusetts, because the Whig caucus had refused to oppose the Wilmot Proviso.

About this edition

• Publisher: State House Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 189311449X
• ISBN 13: 9781893114494
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144