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Title: The Passing of Armies : An Account Of The Final Campaign Of The Army Of The Potomac by Joshua Chamberlain ISBN: 0-553-29992-1 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The final Civil War memoirs from Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Comment: "The Passing of the Armies" was the final memoirs authored by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, published a year after his death in 1914. Having dealt with the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Petersburg in earlier volumes, Chamberlain recounts the final days of the Fifth Army Corps of the Army of Potomac from March 1865 through the end of the Civil War. Consequently, this book contains Chamberlain's account of the emotional moment when he was in charge of the formal surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Because of Michael Shaara's Pulitizer Prize winning novel "The Killer Angels," the companion volumes on the Civil War by his son Jeff, and the film "Gettysburg," Chamberlain has become the idealized citizen-soldier of the Civil War, which means we are assured that his books will be kept in print.
Chamberlain's writing style is a bit different in this book from his earlier efforts, due no doubt to the fact that half a century had passed since the events he is covering, he was apparently in the process of dying while writing the book, and he never had an opportunity to revise the manuscript, a task which was left to his family. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are inconsistencies with this book from accounts he wrote earlier. Certainly Chamberlain comes across as more emotional in his reminiscences than he did in "Bayonet! Forward!" or "Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg." Reading Chamberlain's books in terms of the chronology of the events they cover is a good approach and I would certainly recommend reading his memoirs before moving on to the biographies currently available.
Rating: 5
Summary: A deeply moving experience - a real insight
Comment: It was after being shown the film "Gettysburg" in August 1997 I first heard of Joshua Lawrence Chamnberlain and the 20 Maine. I found the film very moving, and the serious, very human and very sensitive character of Chamberlain (played by Jeff Daniels) a very appealing figure - a true leader, a man who could inspire the best from others, a man of courage and integrity.
I wanted to find out more, to discover the real Joshua Chamberlain. To my delight, I found he had written a personal account of his life with the Army of the Potomac. Unbelievably - "The Passing of the Armies" was now available in the UK.
I was overwhelmed by this book, a poem in prose, a beautiful command of language and emotion, sensitive and deeply felt. It helped me understand a little of what the American Civil War did mean and how men could endure such agony and danger.
The book is an incredibly personal account of the last days before Appomattox, followed by a almost mystical account of the last review of the battered but triumphant Army of the Potomac. The language is very romantic, very foreign to twentieth century ears, but Joshua Chamberlain was there, he risked everything, valued people, he saw the deaths and felt the loss. Wounded six times, he was once given up for dead after being shot through both hips by a musket ball while leading a charge at Petersburg in 1864.
He was a good man, an inspiring man, with a wonderful self-deprecating humour, as shown when he describes falling in a muddy river along with his horse. Raymond Chandler wrote a line for his creation Philip Marlowe which I feel is very appropriate for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - "If there were enough like him, the world would be a very safe place to live in, and yet not too dull to be worth living in."
I went on to read "In the Hands of Providence" by Alice Rains Trulock, the latest biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain which I would recommend to anyone.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Historical facts
Comment: Obviously this is different from Shaara's works beacuse this is historical non-fiction and reads more like history vs. Shaara's excellent historical fiction novel which is more like a story then this memoir of civil war hero Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain. If your looking for a novel like Shaara's I wouldn't reccomend this book but if you are looking for facts and more about Chamberlain then I strongly reccomend this novel for you.
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Title: Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain ISBN: 1879664178 Publisher: Stan Clark Military Books Pub. Date: July, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: "Bayonet! Forward": My Civil War Reminiscences by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain ISBN: 1879664216 Publisher: Stan Clark Military Books Pub. Date: December, 1994 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America by James Longstreet, Jeffry D. Wert ISBN: 0306804646 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: April, 1992 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero's Life and Legacy by John J. Pullen ISBN: 0811708861 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Last Full Measure by Jeffrey M. Shaara ISBN: 0345434811 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 02 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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