Revisioning the Civil War: Historians on Counter-Factual Scenarios

by Jim Bresnahan (Editor)

Overview

What if Douglas instead of Lincoln had won the presidential election of 1860? What if the Confederates had pushed their advantage and advanced on Washington following their victory at Bull Run? What if Lincoln had not been assassinated? Questions like these help historians answer other broader queries such as: Was the Civil War inevitable? Could the South really have won the war?

This book examines key events and decisions of the Civil War, giving some of the subject's foremost experts a chance to reflect on the actualities of what could have (and what could not have) happened. Each of the chronologically arranged sections briefly introduces a topic, poses a counter-historical question and presents the responses of several leading scholars, and synthesizes and recaps these often divergent opinions. The work concludes with survey results from the panel of experts regarding several all-encompassing Civil War topics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786423927
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	11/10/2005
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.49(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Broadcast journalist Jim Bresnahan is also the author of Play It Again: Baseball Experts on What Might Have Been (2006). He lives in Lexington, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Keith E. Gibson     
Acknowledgments     
The Panel of Civil War Experts     
Preface     

1. On the Brink: Secession     
2. The Pinch Comes: Fort Sumter     
3. Like a Stone Wall: Bull Run     
4. Grant’s Beginning, Johnston's End: Fort Donelson and Shiloh     
5. Saving Richmond: The Peninsula, the Valley and the Seven Days     
6. Rebels on the Move: Second Manassas, Antietam and Perryville     
7. Stalemate: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Stones River     
8. Showdown in Pennsylvania: Gettysburg     
9. Mortal Wounds: Vicksburg, Chickamauga and Chattanooga     
10. Grant against Lee: The Overland Campaign     
11. Wearing Down the South: Atlanta, Petersburg and the Election of 1864     
12. A Just and Lasting Peace: Appomattox and Assassination     

Appendix: Surveying the Experts     
Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

entertaining read...thought-provoking...entertaining and fascinating”—The Civil War News; “delightful...profusely illustrated...this is a work that you should add to your library”—Staunton News Leader; “different and refreshing”—The Free Lance-Star.

From the Publisher

"different and refreshing"

The Free Lance-Star

delightful...profusely illustrated...this is a work that you should add to your library

Staunton News Leader

entertaining read...thought-provoking...entertaining and fascinating

The Civil War News