With My Face to the Enemy: Perspectives on the Civil War

I listened to this book on audiocassette. I assume that the editor picked six of the best essays from the hardcopy book for the audio version. They are: Lincoln Takes Charge by David Herbert Donald Failed Southern Strategies by James M. McPherson Malvern Hill by Stephen W. Sears When Lee was Mortal by Gary W. Gallagher The Rock of Chickamauga: George H. Thomas by John Bowers Rebel Without a War: The Shenandoah by Robert F. Jones All of these are worth listening to. Narrator Eric Conger does an excellent job, and of course, the highly-respected authors all conducted thorough research and wrote clearly on interesting topics. Personally I found the last two to be particularly intriguing because they covered stories that were fairly new to me. For example, George Thomas was a native of Virginia who chose to remain in the U.S. Army after his home state seceded. His family never spoke to him again! His leadership at Chickamauga and elsewhere in Tennessee earned him well-deserved acclaim. As for the final essay in this version, the CSS Shenandoah fired the last shot of the Civil War basically because the captain and crew did not know that the war had ended until late in the summer of 1865. Their job had been to damage Union commerce by destroying commercial vessels, and this they did. In particular they sunk a number of whaling ships. Subtitled "Perspectives on the Civil War," the book is suitable for anyone interested in that period of American history and particularly for those who already have some familiarity with the Civil War and would like some fresh ideas and detailed stories.

This book carries a similar format to books that look at the "hows" and "whys" of a battle, but instead follows popular events in the Civil War. Featuring and all-star cast of writers such as Gallagher and Sears, the book covers a variety of topics concerning subjects like Lee, Jackson, Grant, Vicksburg, Forrest at Fort Pillow, Union prisons, Sherman, Sheridan and many others. I have to admit the lack of references was disappointing as at times writer opinion versus fact were questionable. A majority of the chapters did offer interesting insight and tried to look at either popular misconceptions or myths surrounding the subjects. There is over 500 pages of material here that offer the advanced student of the Civil War possible new insight to events. I couldn't recommend this book to novice readers as a majority of the topics seem to be written in the assumption of past reader knowledge.

I am greatly torn over whether to give With My Face to the Enemy three or four stars. Four stars ultimately prevails because it seems to me that just about any book about the Civil War is almost by definition worth reading, and there is much in With My Face to the Enemy that will please both Civil War aficionados and those with but a passing interest. Of particular moment are two articles about the Confederate pirate ships (and let's be honest, they *were* pirate ships sans the physical violence) Alabama and Shenandoah, which reveal the genuinely global reach of the conflict. Every article has something to recommend it, even if, like Stephen Sears' essay on Chancellorsville, you've read it all before.But there are some flaws, too. Most glaring and annoying is the lack of an index. Is there any Civil War student who does not rush to the index first to find references to his (or her) favorite general or battle? No such luck here; you'll have to read the entire book for those brief references to Howard, Hancock, McPherson, et al. Second, the articles lack two of the major selling points of military history magazines - color maps and illustrations. Now, I'm a big boy and I don't *need* pictures with my text, but often the art that accompanies an MHQ article is more powerful than the text. Third, there is a fault that lies with far too many Civil War pieces: biographies of important figures devolving into hagiographies. For too many Civil War biographers their subject can do, and did no, wrong. Crowley himself uses the word "hagiography" in one of his introductions. Whether it's Stonewall or Lee, or Admiral Porter or Sheridan, the lavish praise becomes tiring. And the final gripe to be made is toward Crowley's introductions, which borrow too liberally from the essays, adding nothing yet stealing the thunder of the contributors. (The same complaint can be made of Crowley's introductions to the What If? series.)These are not much more than petty gripes, however. The Civil War remains a fascinating topic, and With My Face to the Enemy provides a wide range of essays covering many areas of the war. The collection deserves a spot on the bookshelf.

This collection of essays, compiled by Donald and Cowley, is a real treat. It offers a nice mix of storylines from both Union and Confederate perspectives. Maps abound to assist the text pertaining to various battles/troop movements. A word of caution, however - these essays have been collected from past issues of Military History Quarterly. This may explain why no notes or bibliographies are offered. Many of these offerings present novel twists on Civil War subjects - Lincoln's genius with the English language, Charles Stone's ordeal with the Federal legislature and Nathan Bedford Forrest's role at Ft. Pillow are just three of 30+ topics brought to bear. Finally, on a structural note, this book is 500+ pages of somewhat small print.

I suppose for the real Civil War authority, there is nothing really new in Cowley's collection of essays. After all, virtually every included author is a well-known historian with an established reputation and style. One should not, therefore, expect the manifestation of any of the trendy new theories that are all the rage among the professorial elite as they seek to repaint the motivations of 19th Century characters in light our own media-dominated society and their personal palette of political correctness. Thank goodness for that. Nevertheless, they are an excellent read. Each of the insightful chronicles place the reader in dramatic and immediate proximity to the historical record, in lucid detail, without resort to an exhaustive account lasting hundreds of pages. For those who unfortunately cannot live their lives immersed in research, this collection of essays provides a Civil War carte du jour doled out in delicious slices. The value of the book is undiminished because we've read it all before. Even those with extensive Civil War libraries will not be disappointed.