I loved this splendidbook!"-Jay Winik, author of April 1865: The Month That Saved America, " latest work is further evidence that he continues to be the most reliable, insightful, and readable Civil War historian of our time."-The Wall Street Journal "McPherson is the preeminent historian of the Civil War. Vivid, elegantly written, and superbly rendered, this slender volume brings the momentous events surrounding the fateful battle of Antietam to life as never before. Then, as now, nothing is inevitable."-Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today, "Historian James McPherson is a national treasure, and Crossroads of Freedom is his latest gem. James mcpherson battle cry of freedom full#McPherson reminds us that history is full of small events and accidents that become pivotal momentsin a nation's history. does a superb job of re-creating a moment when the war, and all of American history that followed, might have gone altogether differently. McPherson is a master of the miniature as well as the panorama, as he made plain in his two previous books about the loyalties and issues that inspired men on both sides of the Civil War.Indeed, by contrast with the earnest, step-by-step and shot-by-shot accounts of Gettysburg now being inflicted upon those of us who simply cannot read enough about the Civil War, 'Crossroads of Freedom' is a model of economy."-Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post, "A short but eloquent history lesson. By contrast with McPherson's major works, most notably 'BattleCry of Freedom,' 'Crossroads of Freedom' is a small book-barely 150 pages of narrative-but this is misleading. His mastery extends from military affairs to politics to diplomacy, and he never loses sight of the human beings, both great and small, caught up in the war's vortex. Hartle, Christian ScienceMonitor, "McPherson is the preeminent historian of the Civil War. History doesn't get any better than this."-Terry W. Books that deal with seminal events in American history while remaining faithful to historical scholarship and readable by laymen do not come along very oftern. This effort is intended for the general reader, not the academic expert, but the scholar's attention to precision and detail is evident onevery page. In this slim volume, he skillfully weaves military, diplomatic, and political history into a seamless, highly readable narrative. McPherson brilliantly weaves these strands of diplomatic, political, and military history into a compact, swift-moving narrative that shows why America's bloodiest day is, indeed, a turning point in our history. And it freed Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation Proclamation, which instantly changed the character of the war. It crushed Confederate hopes of British intervention. It restored morale in the North and kept Lincoln's party in control of Congress. Lee's battered army escaped to fight another day, but Antietam was a critical victory for the Union. McPherson vividly describes a day of savage fighting in locales that became forever famous-The Cornfield, the Dunkard Church, the West Woods, and Bloody Lane. Valor, misjudgment, and astonishing coincidence all played a role in the outcome. It came along the ridges and in the woods and cornfields between Antietam Creek and the Potomac River. Both Confederate and Union troops knew the war was at a crossroads, that they were marching toward a decisive battle. And Lincoln had shelved his proposed edict of emancipation months before, waiting for a victory that had not come-that some thought would never come. Northern armies and voters were demoralized. The British government was openly talking of recognizing the Confederacy and brokering a peace between North and South. Lee's army was in Maryland, poised to threaten Washington. The Union had suffered a string of defeats, and Robert E. As McPherson shows, by September 1862 the survival of the United States was in doubt. McPherson, paints a masterful account of this pivotal battle, the events that led up to it, and its aftermath. In Crossroads of Freedom, America's most eminent Civil War historian, James M. The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed-four times the number lost on D-Day, and twice the number killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks.
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