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Title: Leaders of the American Civil War by Charles F. Ritter ISBN: 1-57958-112-9 Publisher: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers Pub. Date: 11 January, 1998 Format: Library Binding List Price(USD): $100.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: This is a fascinating study of nearly fifty people.
Comment: I found this work to be captivating due, in part, to the range and point of view of the biographies, the quality of the writing, and the inclusion of bibliographical sources.

Read the introduction on "the making and meaning of greatness" for an excellent overview of the dilemma confronting the writers in trying to get a realistic fix on each subject. Here, they set the stage for the scholars' plight, namely, how to sift the record of primary and secondary sources in the context of both the times in which they were originally written and in light of subsequent scholarship, standards, and expectations.

I especially enjoyed reading about Braxton Bragg, David Dixon Porter, Varina Davis (Jefferson Davis's wife who worked so hard to defend his less than scintillatingly reputation as a war leader), and Joshua Chamberlain, a hero at Gettysburg portrayed so sympathetically elsewhere in the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Killer Angels".

I was fascinated by Charles Ritter's probing essay on Union Major General, George Henry Thomas. In this ten-page study he distills creditable source materials in a way that amplifies a frequently maligned reputation and gives insight into the oft-overlooked skills of an excellent battlefield tactician. We frequently are mesmerized by the larger luminaries of the Civil War, such as Grant and Lee, who are included here. But Thomas, as Ritter explains, played roles of paramount importance in winning victories against the Confederates at both the beginning and the end of the conflict. His probity was unquestioned though it was characterized by a prickliness that did not serve him well in moving (or not moving) up the chain of command.

I also enjoyed Ritter's more than passing glance at Clara Barton.

The biographies, though they focus on subjects' roles during the Civil War, take into account their larger lives before and after of the conflict. The essays acknowledge the vicissitudes of public and scholarly perceptions over time.

For amateur historians, such as myself, and for scholars as well as students, I liked the bite and the bark of this excellent book.