History of the Southern Confederacy

This is a one-volume history of the Confederate States of America, written by history professor Clement Eaton from North Carolina, first published in 1954. The time period focused upon is almost entirely from the late 1850's until the surrender of the Confederate armies in 1865. Postwar reconstruction is not covered. The usual primary sources are drawn upon, such as Jones the war clerk, Mary Chesnut and the Gorgas and Kean diaries. From the mishandling of the Fort Sumpter crisis, until the hesitation to use slaves as troops in 1865, Eaton gives us a thorough enumeration of Confederate missteps along the way: The misguided expectations of cotton diplomacy, the obstacle of governors like Vance of North Carolina and Brown of Georgia withholding resources for their own states, Jefferson Davis' inability to appoint the right people to command the western army, and mismanagement of southern railroads are only a few of the highlights covered by Eaton. Military campaigns are treated chronologically, but other topics such as naval power, diplomacy, economics and social issues are treated thematically within their own chapters. Eaton's interpretations, although more than fifty years old now, are not shockingly different from many heard today. Possibly the number one conclusion of Eaton's that would be considered non-PC on today's college campuses is his exculpation of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the episode at Fort Pillow. The most memorable point that I took away from Eaton was that the secession movement that preceded the Civil War was in fact a "conservative revolt in that the South would not accept the nineteenth century." Unlike the American uprising or French Revolution of the late 1700's, where radicals led the revolts, this one was being led by conservatives against the United States, which in the broad view of world history must be considered radical by its very existence. The South was attempting to preserve a decentralized, aristocratic form of existence when all the rest of Western Civilization was tending toward popular movements and centralization. Over all, I would recommend this book as having very informative and thorough coverage of the Confederacy, despite it being published in 1954.