
The American Civil War
A Military History
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Narrated by:
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Robin Sachs
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By:
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John Keegan
About this listen
For the past half century, John Keegan, the greatest military historian of our time, has been returning to the scenes of America’s most bloody and wrenching war to ponder its lingering conundrums: the continuation of fighting for four years between such vastly mismatched sides; the dogged persistence of ill-trained, ill-equipped, and often malnourished combatants; the effective absence of decisive battles among some two to three hundred known to us by name.
Now Keegan examines these and other puzzles with a peerless understanding of warfare, uncovering dimensions of the conflict that have eluded earlier historiography.While offering original and perceptive insights into psychology, ideology, demographics, and economics, Keegan reveals the war’s hidden shape—a consequence of leadership, the evolution of strategic logic, and, above all, geography, the Rosetta Stone of his legendary decipherments of all great battles. The American topography, Keegan argues, presented a battle space of complexity and challenges virtually unmatched before or since. Out of a succession of mythic but chaotic engagements, he weaves an irresistible narrative illuminated with comparisons to the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and other conflicts. The American Civil War is sure to be hailed as a definitive account of its eternally fascinating subject.
©2009 John Keegan (P)2009 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Keegan excels at explaining the events and circumstances leading up to the Civil War, and explores how it might not have happened. He depicts with great clarity the haphazard nature in which both governments and armies entered the war….This British historian has thereby nailed the American psyche’s captivation with its Civil War.” -James T. Course, Times Higher Education
“Written in crisp prose [with] a confident, distinctive voice…insightful [and] amusing….On matters of grand strategy Keegan is at his best. He comprehends the Civil War as a whole, as a war won or lost in the vast western theater, and one in which the winners were those few generals, along with Abraham Lincoln, who developed a ‘geostrategic appreciation,’ a national rather than local understanding, of the conflict….Keegan’s own geographic range inspires comparative insights that will prod….Keegan’s exploration of how and why the war was fought the way it was fought leaves us much to ponder.” David W. Blight, Slate
“An impressive body of ideas for specialists and general readers alike to ponder.” -Dennis Showalter, American History Magazine
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Story
On a summer day in 1914, a nineteen-year-old Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. While the world slumbered, monumental forces were shaken. In less than a month, a combination of ambition, deceit, fear, jealousy, missed opportunities, and miscalculation sent Austro-Hungarian troops marching into Serbia, German troops streaming toward Paris, and a vast Russian army into war, with England as its ally. As crowds cheered their armies on, no one could guess what lay ahead in the First World War.
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A great book!
- By Jodi Bernard on 07-11-23
By: G. J. Meyer
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A Savage War
- A Military History of the Civil War
- By: Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, Williamson Murray
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The Civil War represented a momentous change in the character of war. It combined the projection of military might across a continent on a scale never before seen with an unprecedented mass mobilization of peoples. Yet despite the revolutionizing aspects of the Civil War, its leaders faced the same uncertainties that have vexed combatants since the days of Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War.
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A Book about Conclusions
- By Terry Masters on 10-18-17
By: Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, and others
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Lincoln vs. Davis
- The War of the Presidents
- By: Nigel Hamilton
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 32 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From a renowned biographer comes the greatest untold story of the Civil War: how two American presidents faced off as the fate of the nation hung in the balance—and how Abraham Lincoln came to embrace emancipation as the last, best chance to save the Union. With a cast of unforgettable characters, from first ladies to fugitive coachmen to treasonous cabinet officials, Lincoln vs. Davis is a spellbinding dual biography from renowned presidential chronicler Nigel Hamilton: a saga that will surprise, touch, and enthrall.
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Disappointing
- By J B Tipton on 02-14-25
By: Nigel Hamilton
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Six Armies in Tennessee
- The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns
- By: Steven E. Woodworth
- Narrated by: Bill Nevitt
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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When Vicksburg fell to Union forces under General Grant in July 1863, the balance turned against the Confederacy in the trans-Appalachian theater. The Federal success along the river opened the way for advances into central and eastern Tennessee, which culminated in the bloody battle of Chickamauga and then a struggle for Chattanooga. Chickamauga is usually counted as a Confederate victory, albeit a costly one.
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Excellent excellent accounting of the fighting in Tennessee.
- By S. H. Moore on 07-22-20
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The First World War
- A Complete History
- By: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later. Unofficially, however, it has never ended: Many of the horrors we live with today are rooted in the First World War. The Great War left millions of civilians and soldiers maimed or dead. It also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction: tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare.
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Unbiased true facts of the first world war
- By troy a myers on 07-27-20
By: Martin Gilbert
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Gods and Generals
- A Novel of the Civil War (Civil War Trilogy)
- By: Jeff Shaara
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 22 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In this brilliantly written epic novel, Jeff Shaara traces the lives, passions, and careers of the great military leaders from the first gathering clouds of the Civil War.
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Like father like son
- By brian on 06-02-20
By: Jeff Shaara
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Battle Cry of Freedom
- The Civil War Era
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 39 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Battle Cry of Freedom vividly traces how a new nation was forged when a war both sides were sure would amount to little dragged for four years and cost more American lives than all other wars combined. Narrator Jonathan Davis powerful reading brings to life the many voices of the Civil War.
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Excellent Book
- By J. Weston on 12-11-20
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American History, Volume 1
- 1492-1877
- By: Thomas S. Kidd
- Narrated by: Craig Hinkle
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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American History, Volume 1 surveys the broad sweep of American history from the first Native American societies to the end of the Reconstruction period, following the Civil War. Drawing on a deep range of research and years of classroom teaching experience, Thomas S. Kidd offers students an engaging overview of the first half of American history. The volume features illuminating stories of people from well known presidents and generals, to lesser-known men and women who struggled under slavery and other forms of oppression to make their place in American life.
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Too much of an agenda
- By anon on 03-19-23
By: Thomas S. Kidd
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The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume I, Fort Sumter to Perryville
- By: Shelby Foote
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 42 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume 1 begins one of the most remarkable works of history ever fashioned. All the great battles are here, of course, from Bull Run through Shiloh, the Seven Days Battles, and Antietam, but so are the smaller ones: Ball's Bluff, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Island Ten, New Orleans, and Monitor versus Merrimac.
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OUTSTANDING! I'M PROUD TO BE A BLACK AMERICAN!!
- By The Louligan on 08-22-13
By: Shelby Foote
Outstanding!!
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Outstanding Civil War History
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An amazing analysis of our Civil War from outside!
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Where does The American Civil War rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
"The American Civil War" is among the best audiobooks I have ever experienced. The clarity of analysis of civil war leaders, soldiers, and circumstances is superb. The story is intensely interesting and engaging, and the delivery (voice) is extremely well-suited to a historical work.What was one of the most memorable moments of The American Civil War?
The book is packed with memorable moments. For example, there is an amazing description of Civil War sea battles, including the first sinking of an enemy ship by a submarine (on the part of the Confederacy)! I was also impacted by the description of trenching by soldiers and the fact that the men of both sides adopted this practice without being ordered to. And I will never forget the description of writer Walt Whitman's visitation of the wounded in hospitals, which inspired Whitman's later writing.Any additional comments?
The greatest thing about this book is the way the author explains so much *background*, not just the facts. For example, he tells us about leaders' character and the *reasons* for their decisions, not just what they did. And the information is provided in a way that doesn't just inform, it entertains. I will be listening to this again soon.Outstanding in every sense!
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What did you love best about The American Civil War?
This is well written and informative, and a great addition to your Shelby Foote narrative. I was OK with the accented narrator mis-pronouncing some American locations. If you are interested in being taught about the Civil War, this is a very good book.A must-have for your Civil War collection
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Great military history, weak on the causes of the war
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This, however, is also Keegan’s weak point, as he passes judgement on these same characters, getting very close to stereotyping them. In other words, Keegan does not distance himself from the events he tells, but does not have enough room in his book, or patience, to properly characterize his characters and motivations, and eventually comes up as a partial judge, mixing historical facts with his opinions.
Overall a great book about this terrible conflict, which revisits so many important questions not commonly asked by most.
Highly recommend it.
Great book, to be taken with a grain of salt
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pronunciations of towns and rivers were better
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Best Compendium by the Best Military Historian
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Perhaps only an English military historian could handle this with the detachment that Keegan shows. This is not to say he shows no biases at all; he definitely faults the South for being technologically deficient and maybe culturally backward; and he thinks the world of Abraham Lincoln. But this is just a function of using a book-review idiom, in which one accepts the conventional outlook overall, while reserving creative insight for one's one narrow and favorite specialties. Thus when discussing strategy in the many theaters of war, Keegan comes back again and again to his own pet methodologies, analyzing the problems of managing a war over a vast terrain that no one comprehended very well, and comparing the topographical problems of waging battles in Tidewater Virginia versus the campaigns in the trans-Appalachian West. Again and again it's mainly an issue of good maps and efficient geopolitical outlook, much as in the First World War.
The performance is pretty good. The mispronunciations of place names (mainly "Po-to-mack" for Potomac) is amusing and forgivable, given the British actor during the narration.
A Novel Approach (As Opposed to Novelistic)
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