Curt Anders

Give Curt Anders credit: He doesn't hesitate to question conventional wisdom. He is, for instance, the only Civil War historian I can recall who believes Henry Halleck did a good job as Union general-in-chief.

Now if only he presented his case a little better.

Anders presents a narrative that is often quite confusing, simply because he jumps around so much. Take, for example, the late summer of 1862, the time of the Antietam campaign in the east and the Perryville campaign in the west. These campaigns were simultaneous, so an annalistic chronicle would presumably flip back and forth between the two, as if it were presenting newspaper reports. But the newspaper would presumably label which sections were which! Anders doesn't do this very well, and the result can leave the reader feeling rather dizzy. To make things worse, Anders doesn't always follow this annalistic style, so you never really get used to it.

And Anders also seems to have a hard time forming a mixed opinion about high officers. Some, like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, he approves of entirely. Some, like George McClellan, he dislikes so much that he suspects them of treason. He is willing to forgive John Pope his bombast simply because he wasn't McClellan. James Longstreet had a bad battle at Gettysburg, so he must be permanently disobedient. And so forth.

And calling William Tecumseh Sherman by the nickname "Cump" gets monotonous after three or four dozen times. Particularly since it's an isolated behavior; U. S. Grant isn't called "Sam Grant" at every possibly chance, nor is P. G. T. Beauregard "Bory." It's just that one nickname that is stuck in Anders's head. It makes you wonder what other hidden obsessions he has.

Some of his opinions, like the defense of Halleck, are worth thinking about; I wish they could be presented separately. Others are hard to believe. There is a lot here that deserves real consideration. But if you want only one history of the Civil War, this surely isn't it -- it's too unclear, and too radical.… (més)