Gary W. Gallagher is John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia.
[Gallagher's] perceptive and engaging new book maintains that
historians have got off track in recent years by attributing
Confederate defeat to weakness on the home front rather than to
performance on the battlefield. War-weariness, lack of will and
ambivalence toward the cause of independence, they say, doomed the
South… Gallagher addresses the right issues, asks probing questions
and suggests intriguing alternatives.
*New York Times Book Review*
Gallagher's work, a perceptive, well-written, and strongly argued
series of essays concerning Confederate morale, nationalism, and
military strategy, raises serious questions about the prevalent
interpretation of why the South lost the Civil War.
*Virginia Quarterly Review*
The Confederate War is a significant and thought-provoking addition
to the current body of Civil War literature. Gallagher has returned
the focus of the war to the theater in which it was
decided—military operations. In doing do, he demonstrates the
enormous human, financial and material investment that white
Southerners put into the struggle for independence. Solidly
researched and sharply argued, The Confederate War cannot easily be
dismissed by the 'internal causes' historians. Consequently, it is
likely to rekindle debate among both academics and popularizers,
which is all to the good, particularly in the current stifling
climate of political.
*America's Civil War*
One of the most attractive and ennobling portrayals of the white
Confederacy in recent memory. The lavish illustrations (numbering a
full forty) and coffee-table 'feel' assures that this beautifully
produced and competitively priced volume will have a wide
readership outside of the historical profession. Gallagher's own
swift prose, clear argument, and richly documented account of white
southerners at war can only bolster sales further… It is also safe
to say that it will have a major impact on how historians will
hereafter frame research on the slaveholding South's suicidal
effort to establish its independence… In a growing corpus of work
on the wartime South, Gallagher has explored the interactions of
war and society and given new legitimacy to a field of military
history that will always need to be a part of any general
understanding of the 1860s. This work has achieved a substantial
measure of authority.
*Reviews in American History*
Everyone involved in the continuing debate over the factors behind
the South's defeat must read Gallagher's book, and anyone wanting a
helpful introduction to it should as well.
*Louisiana History*
An important book… The Confederate War is certain to cause
controversy. For Gallagher dares to suggest that, despite, 'moral
disapprobation' prevalent in many histories about the conflict over
the past half-century, the stark fact remains that 'a majority of
white southerners steadfastly supported their nascent republic, and
that Confederate arms more than once almost persuaded the North
that the price of subduing the rebellious states would be too
high'… Using published evidence from Confederate diarists,
soldiers, statesmen, and newspapers—evidence which by omission or
intent seldom seems to find its way into recent Civil War
histories—Gallagher makes a compelling case for Confederate unity.
The Confederacy did not fall to pieces after Gettysburg; a 'mass of
testimony' suggests that Southerners thought the war winnable until
virtually the end… Thorough reassessments of the Confederacy and of
the interpretations of it have long been overdue, and Gary W.
Gallagher succeeds in his initial attempt to rebalance historical
portrayals of the Civil War South.
*Register of the Kentucky Historical Society*
The Confederate War is an impressive volume. The arguments which
Gallagher employs to support his central thesis are well
constructed and quite persuasive. Gallagher also relies on a wide
array of Confederate voices from the past to substantiate his case
and this makes for an interesting study. Moreover, Gallagher's
extensive review of the literature is incisive and most
informative. The Confederate War should provide good reading for
all students of Confederate nationalism and will generate lively
debate among historians of the American Civil War for years to
come.
*Nation and Nationalism*
Gallagher's book challenges the non-military historians to come out
from behind the barricades once again.
*American Studies in Europe*
The author makes a fine case for a new look at an old argument.
*Library Journal*
Gallagher's effort will have serious students rejoicing in its
persuasive argumentation for believing that battles and armies who
indeed have some bearing on the outcomes of war.
*Booklist*
The best interpretive study of the Civil War, or at least of the
Confederacy, to have appeared in a good many years. Gallagher has
an almost unparalleled command of sources, both primary and
secondary. His sound common sense, incisive analysis, and forceful
and lucid literary style have produced a superb book.
*James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom*
The Confederate War is vintage Gary Gallagher. Drawing on vast
research, careful reasoning, and a perceptive understanding of the
use of evidence, Gallagher deftly slays some of the Civil War's
most lasting interpretations. It is one of the best books on the
Confederacy in this decade and is a must read for anyone interested
in the Civil War.
*Joseph T. Glatthaar, author of Forged in Battle: The Civil War
Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers*
In this bold, high spirited, well argued—and indispensable—book,
Gary Gallagher does justice to the extraordinary courage and
tenacity with which the white people of the South fought to
establish their claims to national self-determination. And in so
doing, he respectfully refutes prevalent but wrong-headed
judgments.
*Eugene Genovese, author of The Southern Tradition*
Starting with meticulous research and proceeding with careful
analysis, Gallagher presents a convincing argument that Confederate
fortunes collapsed primarily from military defeats rather than an
internal loss of will. This is must reading for anyone seeking a
basic explanation of the causes and outcome of the Civil War.
*James I. Robertson, Jr., author of Stonewall Jackson: The Man,
the Soldier, the Legend*
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