Coming Fury, Volume 1

Catton covers so many human interest details that bring the early years before the Civil War alive. He not only describes the military movements and strategies of both the Union forces and the Confederate forces, as they prepare for the war, but he also explains the politics behind the election of Lincoln. He contrasts the Northern and the Southern societies to help the reader have a better understanding of why this national conflict was unavoidable. This is a well-rounded description of the years before the war and you do not have to be a military strategist to appreciate his work.

When my husband wanted a good book on the Civil War, a friend recommended Bruce Catton's American Civil War Trilogy. My husband thought it was a fabulous series, so I was determined to read it as well. After finishing the first book, The Coming Fury, I have to agree. Even though The Coming Fury was first published in 1961, it remains one of the definitive books written about the Civil War. The Coming Fury actually starts before the Civil War with the Democratic Convention of April 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina. Here, the Democratic Party will splinter over choosing a presidential candidate because of the slavery issue. Catton painstakingly provides us with this political background leading up to the war, but in a very readable manner. "The story of 1860 is the story of a great nation, marching to the wild music of bands, with flaring torches and with banners and with enthusiastic shouts, moving down a steep place into the sea." The election of Abraham Lincoln will set the southern states on the path to secession. Catton details the setting up of the Confederate government, the scramble for bases and forts, and the creation of the CSA military machine. He also spends much time on the opening shots on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. At first, it was like a war between friends. "The Federal soldiers in the fort and the South Carolina soldiers who encircled it maintained polite relations while they got ready to kill each other." If guns "were fired in the wrong direction, letters of apology were quickly sent and gracefully acknowledged." The end of The Coming Fury takes us to the first major battle of the war--Bull Run. Considered a "battle of amateurs," it made both sides realize that this war wasn't going to be over anytime soon. Catton seamlessly weaves the political and military aspects of the Civil War in a way that keeps this series extremely popular almost 50 years after it was first published. Having just read The Civil War by Geoffrey Ward, Ric Burns and Ken Burns, I was surprised to see how much of Catton's work found its way into their book. I have already started Volume Two, Terrible Swift Sword and it promises to be just as good as The Coming Fury.

For anyone, like I once was, who needs an education on the causes of the Civil War, this book is indespensable. Growing up in the South, I was taught in public schools that slavery had very little to do with the Civil War. Catton not only obliterates this theory, he goes in to much detail about the various conflicts and rivalries (including slavery) which caused an unbridgeable chasm between North and South in the decade leading up to the firing upon Fort Sumter in April, 1861. He clearly demonstrates why these differences in philosophy would erupt into war, which in retrospect was probably the only way America could ever be united in our collective belief system, which we now take for granted. I would recommend this book (and Catton's entire Civil War Trilogy series for that matter) to both casual reader and Civil War buff alike. In fact, it should be required reading for ALL americans.

In the mid-1950's and 1960s, Bruce Catton(1899-1978) wrote outstanding narrative histories of the Civil War which remain among the best sources available for a basic understanding of the conflict. Catton's books are accessible, informative, and a pleasure to read. He once said: "Whatever else history is, it should be a good yarn." His books are, indeed, "good yarns" and more. Catton's "The Coming Fury" appeared in 1961 as part of a three-volume trilogy commemorating the Civil War centennial. It tells the story of the origins of the conflict and takes the story through the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861.The book begins with the Presidential conventions of the political parties in 1860, showing how the Democratic party split into northern and southern components and how this party split led to the disaster of secession, disunion, and war. The story of Lincoln's election is well-told, but Catton's book picks up momentum with his treatment of the decisions to seceede of the 11 Southern states. The treatment of the final days of the Buchanan administration, the political maneuvering over Fort Sumter, and the attack on Fort Sumter which precipitated the War are told with the literary skill of a born storyteller and are full as well of good thought and information.The book offers an excellent sense of the mood of the country at the onset of the 1860s and of the passions aroused over slavery and sucession. Catton shows how hotheads and extremists ultimately were put in control of events which spiraled inevitably into the Civil War. Catton shows a great deal of sympathy for those figures who tried, literally at the last minute, to stave off the conflict and settle the differences between the North and South through compromise.The book spends a great deal of time on the four border states -- Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Delaware. Catton explains how these states were essential to the Union war effort and shows as well the careful and individualized manner in which Lincoln treated each of these states to keep them precariously in the Union.The book concludes with a discussion of the early military efforts of the War, with emphasis on First Bull Run. The chief protagonists involved in the War, both for the Union and the Confederacy, are kindly and convincingly portrayed.This book is a good introduction to the Civil War and to its causes. Those who have read a great deal about the War may still learn from Catton's account. Catton writes simply and well. His book will encourage the reader to learn more about this seminal event in American history.

"The Coming Fury" is a powerful rendition of the sad tale of the disintegration of the Union from the political maneuvers of 1860 to the aftermath of the First Battle of Bull Run.In this, the first of the Catton trilogy, we are show how the breakdown of the spirit of compromise, which had held together a house divided for four score and four years, contributed to the conflagration to follow.The major theme of this book is that nothing was inevitable about the lines on which the Union would fracture. The lines of division resulted from a multitude of decisions made by the actors in this national tragedy.For many with only a superficial knowledge, history is the story of conflict between right and wrong, heroes and villains. When I read history I enjoy books which permit us to see the stories and characters with all their triumphs and failures, virtues and faults. "The Coming Fury" ranks high on the list of such books.The first casualty of the failure of compromise was the Great Democracy, the Democratic Party, which split into its Northern and Southern wings in 1860, making the election of Abraham Lincoln inevitable that fall.The election of Lincoln convinced many southerners that the Union was no longer provided a suitable home for them. This book tells the story of how the breakup occurred.We see James Buchanan, trapped by a cabinet which was as divided as the nation, presiding over the rejection of the Constitution and the dissolution of the Union which he was sworn to preserve and protect and who, incredibly, retired in the belief that he had done a good job under the circumstances.We see Abraham Lincoln, whose eloquence and political magic are the stuff of legends, stumble his way into Civil War. We learn that the speeches along his route from Springfield to Washington contain nothing of the inspiring rhetoric which now adorns his Memorial.We see that the South did secede in one monolithic movement. The first seven states seceded nearly in masse, while the remaining slave states waited to see whether a compromise would permit the survival of the nation.We all know about the firing on Fort Sumter, but how many know what was really at stake? The truth is that the main issue was over the possession of forts. In fact, there were several forts which could have provided the spark which set the nation ablaze, but the honor fell to Sumter and South Carolina.Although the issue of Fort Sumter revolved around the possession of real estate, the implications were much greater. Several of the Border states swung toward the Confederacy after the attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter. It can be said that Lincoln's first crucial decision, that being to reinforce Fort Sumter, lead to the secession of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, with Maryland and Missouri being held in only by military force. It was Lincoln's political decisions which almost transformed the Confederacy from a rump nation with virtually no chance of survival into stat