The War for the Common Soldier
How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies
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The War for the Common Soldier
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Narrated by:
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Walter Dixon
About this listen
How did Civil War soldiers endure the brutal and unpredictable existence of army life during the conflict? This question is at the heart of Peter S. Carmichael's sweeping new study of men at war.
Based on close examination of the letters and records left behind by individual soldiers from both the North and the South, Carmichael explores the totality of the Civil War experience - the marching, the fighting, the boredom, the idealism, the exhaustion, the punishments, and the frustrations of being away from families who often faced their own dire circumstances. Carmichael focuses not on what soldiers thought but rather how they thought. In doing so, he reveals how, to the shock of most men, well-established notions of duty or disobedience, morality or immorality, loyalty or disloyalty, and bravery or cowardice were blurred by war.
Digging deeply into his soldiers' writing, Carmichael resists the idea that there was "a common soldier" but looks into their own words to find common threads in soldiers' experiences and ways of understanding what was happening around them. In the end, he argues that a pragmatic philosophy of soldiering emerged, guiding members of the rank and file as they struggled to live with the contradictory elements of their violent and volatile world. Soldiering in the Civil War, as Carmichael argues, was never a state of being but a process of becoming.
©2018 The University of North Carolina Press (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 455
Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History. In this magisterial biography, T. J. Stiles paints a portrait of Custer both deeply personal and sweeping in scope, proving how much of Custer’s legacy has been ignored. He demolishes Custer’s historical caricature, revealing a volatile, contradictory, intense person - capable yet insecure, intelligent yet bigoted, passionate yet self-destructive, a romantic individualist at odds with the institution of the military (he was court-martialed twice in six years).
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4 out of 5 stars
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Custer and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-17-15
By: T.J. Stiles
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The Man Who Would Not Be Washington
- Robert E. Lee's Civil War and His Decision that Changed American History
- By: Jonathan Horn
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
On the eve of the Civil War, one soldier embodied the legacy of George Washington and the hopes of a divided land. Both North and South knew Robert E. Lee as the son of Washington's most famous eulogist and the son-in-law of Washington's adopted child. Each side sought his services for high command. Lee could choose only one. The decision he made would change history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A breath of unbiased truth!
- By M. bridges on 07-04-16
By: Jonathan Horn
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The Thin Light of Freedom
- The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America
- By: Edward L. Ayers
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
At the crux of America's history stand two astounding events: the immediate and complete destruction of the most powerful system of slavery in the modern world, followed by a political reconstruction in which new constitutions established the fundamental rights of citizens for formerly enslaved people. Few people living in 1860 would have dared imagine either event, and yet, in retrospect, both seem to have been inevitable. In a beautifully crafted narrative, Edward L. Ayers restores the drama of the unexpected to the history of the Civil War.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great history
- By Linda Sisco on 11-30-17
By: Edward L. Ayers
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Rising in Flames
- By: J. D. Dickey
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 247
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 228
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
America in the antebellum years was a deeply troubled country, divided by partisan gridlock and ideological warfare. The Civil War that followed brought America to the brink of self-destruction. But it also created a new country from the ruins of the old one - bolder and stronger than ever. No event in the war was more destructive, or more important, than William Sherman's legendary march through Georgia - crippling the heart of the South's economy, freeing thousands of slaves, and marking the beginning of a new era.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book and great narrator
- By Matt McMillen on 07-02-18
By: J. D. Dickey
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Lone Star Nation
- How a Ragged Army of Courageous Volunteers Won the Battle for Texas Independence
- By: H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 328
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
Lone Star Nation is the gripping story of Texas' precarious journey to statehood, from its early colonization in the 1820s to the shocking massacres of Texas loyalists at the Alamo and Goliad by the Mexican army, from its rough-and-tumble years as a land overrun by the Comanches to its day of liberation as an upstart republic.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Texas: From Spanish colony to statehood
- By Brian Shivers on 04-06-05
By: H.W. Brands
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Looking for the Good War
- American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Elizabeth D. Samet
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4 out of 5 stars 51
In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans - all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States' "exceptional" history and destiny.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Essential reading for military officers and political decision makers.
- By Arlene S. Burke on 02-23-22
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Fierce Patriot
- The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman
- By: Robert O'Connell
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 261
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 230
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 232
With a unique, witty, and conversational voice historian Robert O'Connell breaks down the often paradoxical, easily caricatured character of General William T. Sherman for the most well-rounded portrait of the man yet written. There were many Shermans, according to O'Connell. Most prominently was Sherman the military strategist (indeed, one of the greatest strategists of all time), who gained an appreciation of geography from early campaigns out west and applied it to his famed Civil War march.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An interesting biography
- By Jean on 07-19-14
By: Robert O'Connell
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Freemasonry in the American Civil War
- By: Michael A. Halleran
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 127
One of the enduring yet little-examined themes in Civil War lore is the widespread belief that on the field of battle and afterward, members of Masonic lodges would give aid and comfort to wounded or captured enemy Masons, often at great personal sacrifice and danger. This work is a deeply researched examination of the recorded, practical effects of Freemasonry among Civil War participants on both sides.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect for current Freemasons and CSW folk
- By MolllyT on 06-03-15
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Washington's Revolution
- The Making of America's First Leader
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
George Washington was famously unknowable, but Robert Middlekauff penetrates the mystique to reveal the fears, values, and passions that drove him. Rich in psychological details regarding Washington's temperament, idiosyncrasies, and experiences, this audiobook shows us a self-conscious Washington who grew in confidence and experience as a young soldier, businessman, and Virginian gentleman; and was transformed into an American patriot by the revolutionary ferment of the 1760s and 70s.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fresh Look at Leader of American Revolution
- By Sean Lannan on 09-02-15
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War
- By: H. W. Crocker III
- Narrated by: Bill Wallace
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 597
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 477
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 474
Get ready for a rousing rebel yell as best-selling author H. W. Crocker III charges through bunkers and battlefields in The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War. Crocker busts myths and shatters stereotypes as he profiles eminent and colorful military generals, revealing little-known truths, like why Robert E. Lee had a higher regard for African-Americans than Lincoln did.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The American Civil War Made Simple
- By Vincent Tume on 12-18-08
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Rebel Yell
- The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 4,729
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,270
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Story5 out of 5 stars 4,254
General Stonewall Jackson was like no one anyone had ever seen. In April of 1862 he was merely another Confederate general with only a single battle credential in an army fighting in what seemed to be a losing cause. By middle June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western World. He had given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked: hope.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Candidate for "My Daguerreotype Boyfriend"
- By Dorothy on 01-10-15
By: S. C. Gwynne
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The American Miracle
- Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic
- By: Michael Medved
- Narrated by: Michael Medved
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 528
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 470
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 468
The history of the United States displays an uncanny pattern: At moments of crisis, when the odds against success seem overwhelming and disaster looks imminent, fate intervenes to provide deliverance and progress. Historians may categorize these incidents as happy accidents, callous crimes, or the products of brilliant leadership, but the most notable leaders of the past 400 years have identified this good fortune as something else - a reflection of divine providence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing Book
- By Larry on 12-01-16
By: Michael Medved
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Crucible of Command
- Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee - the War They Fought, the Peace They Forged
- By: William C. Davis
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 420
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 377
They met in person only four times, yet these two men determined the outcome of the Civil War and cast competing styles for the reunited nation. Each the subject of innumerable biographies, Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee have never before been paired as they are here. Exploring their personalities, their character, and their ethical, moral, political, and military worlds, William C. Davis finds surprising similarities between the two men.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Plutarch looks at Grant and Lee ...
- By Orson on 02-24-15
By: William C. Davis
-
April 1865
- The Month That Saved America
- By: Professor Jay Winik
- Narrated by: Professor Jay Winik
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 236
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 210
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 210
April 1865 could have destroyed the nation. Instead it saved it. As April begins, the battered Confederate capital of Richmond falls to the Union Army. Robert E. Lee surrenders his forces to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox one week later. In good spirits and sensing the war's end, President Abraham Lincoln attends a comedic play - and is assassinated. Simultaneously, Secretary of State William Seward is brutally attacked but survives.
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1 out of 5 stars
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REALLY!
- By Jonah on 04-22-17
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Being George Washington
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Ron McLarty
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,074
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,079
If you think you know George Washington, think again. This is the amazing true story of a real-life superhero who wore no cape and possessed no special powers—yet changed the world forever. It's a story about a man whose life reads as if it were torn from the pages of an action novel: Bullet holes through his clothing. Horses shot out from under him. Unimaginable hardship. Disease. Heroism. Spies and double-agents. And, of course, the unmistakable hand of Divine Providence that guided it all.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Awe Inspiring!!
- By Bryce on 12-14-11
By: Glenn Beck
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Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots
- By: Bill O'Reilly, David Fisher
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,696
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,369
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,362
The must-have companion to Bill O'Reilly's historical docudrama Legends and Lies: The Patriots, an exciting and eye-opening look at the Revolutionary War through the lives of its leaders. The American Revolution was neither inevitable nor a unanimous cause. It pitted neighbors against each other as loyalists and colonial rebels faced off for their lives and futures. These were the times that tried men's souls: No one was on stable ground, and few could be trusted.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Couldn't stop listening!
- By Erin on 08-05-16
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
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- The Centennial History of the Civil War, Volume 1
- By: Bruce Catton
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 803
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 708
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 703
> The New York Times hailed this trilogy as “one of the greatest historical accomplishments of our time”. With stunning detail and insights, America’s foremost Civil War historian recreates the war from its opening months to its final, bloody end. Each volume delivers a complete listening experience. The Coming Fury (Volume 1) covers the split Democratic Convention in the spring of 1860 to the first battle of Bull Run.
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5 out of 5 stars
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History As It Should Be
- By Bryan on 07-19-11
By: Bruce Catton
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For Cause and Comrades
- Why Men Fought in the Civil War
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
James McPherson shows that, contrary to what many scholars believe, the soldiers of the Civil War remained powerfully convinced of the ideals for which they fought throughout the conflict. Motivated by duty and honor, and often by religious faith, these men wrote frequently of their firm belief in the cause for which they fought: the principles of liberty, freedom, justice, and patriotism. For Cause and Comrades lets these soldiers tell their own stories in their own words to create an account that is both deeply moving and far truer than most books on war.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Ambitious idea but falls short
- By Matt M on 08-03-20
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Military Memoirs of a Confederate
- By: Edward Porter Alexander
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
One of the most important and objective firsthand accounts of the Civil War. Unlike some other Confederate memoirists, General Edward Porter Alexander objectively evaluated and criticized prominent Confederate officers, including Robert E. Lee. The result is a clear-eyed assessment of the bloody conflict that divided but subsequently united the nation.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The first one I may exchange
- By Brian on 05-27-20
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The Cornfield
- Antietam's Bloody Turning Point
- By: David A. Welker
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story5 out of 5 stars 43
For generations of Americans, the word Antietam - the name of a bucolic stream in western Maryland - held the same sense of horror and carnage that the date 9/11 does for Americans today. But Antietam eclipses even this modern tragedy as America's single bloodiest day, on which 22,000 men became casualties in a war to determine our nation's future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Micro history at its finest
- By Amanda Tyler on 04-07-24
By: David A. Welker
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Apostles of Disunion
- Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War: Fifteenth Anniversary Edition
- By: Charles B. Dew
- Narrated by: Mitchell Dorian
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
Charles Dew’s Apostles of Disunion has established itself as a modern classic and an indispensable account of the Southern states’ secession from the Union. Addressing topics still hotly debated among historians and the public at large more than a century and a half after the Civil War, the book offers a compelling and clearly substantiated argument that slavery and race were at the heart of our great national crisis.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Racist Take - Leaves our a lot of information
- By naw74 on 04-15-21
By: Charles B. Dew
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War on the Waters
- The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861–1865
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 388
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 346
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Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because they represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war’s naval campaigns and their military leaders. McPherson recounts how the Union navy’s blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war’s early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports.
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5 out of 5 stars
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From Offshore, This War Looks Completely Different
- By John on 04-30-21
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The Coming Fury
- The Centennial History of the Civil War, Volume 1
- By: Bruce Catton
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 803
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 708
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 703
> The New York Times hailed this trilogy as “one of the greatest historical accomplishments of our time”. With stunning detail and insights, America’s foremost Civil War historian recreates the war from its opening months to its final, bloody end. Each volume delivers a complete listening experience. The Coming Fury (Volume 1) covers the split Democratic Convention in the spring of 1860 to the first battle of Bull Run.
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5 out of 5 stars
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History As It Should Be
- By Bryan on 07-19-11
By: Bruce Catton
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For Cause and Comrades
- Why Men Fought in the Civil War
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
James McPherson shows that, contrary to what many scholars believe, the soldiers of the Civil War remained powerfully convinced of the ideals for which they fought throughout the conflict. Motivated by duty and honor, and often by religious faith, these men wrote frequently of their firm belief in the cause for which they fought: the principles of liberty, freedom, justice, and patriotism. For Cause and Comrades lets these soldiers tell their own stories in their own words to create an account that is both deeply moving and far truer than most books on war.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Ambitious idea but falls short
- By Matt M on 08-03-20
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Military Memoirs of a Confederate
- By: Edward Porter Alexander
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
One of the most important and objective firsthand accounts of the Civil War. Unlike some other Confederate memoirists, General Edward Porter Alexander objectively evaluated and criticized prominent Confederate officers, including Robert E. Lee. The result is a clear-eyed assessment of the bloody conflict that divided but subsequently united the nation.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The first one I may exchange
- By Brian on 05-27-20
-
The Cornfield
- Antietam's Bloody Turning Point
- By: David A. Welker
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story5 out of 5 stars 43
For generations of Americans, the word Antietam - the name of a bucolic stream in western Maryland - held the same sense of horror and carnage that the date 9/11 does for Americans today. But Antietam eclipses even this modern tragedy as America's single bloodiest day, on which 22,000 men became casualties in a war to determine our nation's future.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Micro history at its finest
- By Amanda Tyler on 04-07-24
By: David A. Welker
-
Apostles of Disunion
- Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War: Fifteenth Anniversary Edition
- By: Charles B. Dew
- Narrated by: Mitchell Dorian
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
Charles Dew’s Apostles of Disunion has established itself as a modern classic and an indispensable account of the Southern states’ secession from the Union. Addressing topics still hotly debated among historians and the public at large more than a century and a half after the Civil War, the book offers a compelling and clearly substantiated argument that slavery and race were at the heart of our great national crisis.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Racist Take - Leaves our a lot of information
- By naw74 on 04-15-21
By: Charles B. Dew
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War on the Waters
- The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861–1865
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 388
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 346
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 345
Although previously undervalued for their strategic impact because they represented only a small percentage of total forces, the Union and Confederate navies were crucial to the outcome of the Civil War. In War on the Waters, James M. McPherson has crafted an enlightening, at times harrowing, and ultimately thrilling account of the war’s naval campaigns and their military leaders. McPherson recounts how the Union navy’s blockade of the Confederate coast, leaky as a sieve in the war’s early months, became increasingly effective as it choked off vital imports and exports.
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5 out of 5 stars
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From Offshore, This War Looks Completely Different
- By John on 04-30-21
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All for the Union
- The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes
- By: Robert Hunt Rhodes
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 68
All for the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating Narrative
- By Nathan on 07-13-17
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Crossroads of Freedom
- Antietam
- By: James M. McPherson
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 200
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
Through historical newspaper accounts and the personal letters of soldiers, the events leading up to the battle and the battle itself are stunningly recreated. You will enter the mind of Robert E. Lee as he makes the fateful decision to cross the Potomac River and take the offensive. You will feel the frustration of Abraham Lincoln as he struggles to convince George McClellan to fight. And you will stand side-by-side with foot soldiers as the peaceful Maryland countryside explodes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Far beyond the scope of the battle
- By A. McDonald on 01-26-04
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On to Petersburg
- Grant and Lee, June 4-15, 1864
- By: Gordon C. Rhea
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story5 out of 5 stars 49
On to Petersburg follows the Union army's movement to the James River, the military response from the Confederates, and the initial assault on Petersburg, which Rhea suggests marked the true end of the Overland Campaign. Beginning his account in the immediate aftermath of Grant's three-day attack on Confederate troops at Cold Harbor, Rhea argues that the Union general's primary goal was not - as often supposed - to take Richmond, but rather to destroy Lee's army by closing off its retreat routes and disrupting its supply chain.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Important to understanding the Overland Campaign
- By Jimbo on 12-29-19
By: Gordon C. Rhea
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Defending Dixie’s Land
- What Every American Should Know About The South And The Civil War
- By: Isaac Bishop
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 8
Are you interested in knowing the actual history of your country, or are you content with the propagandized version the winners of wars conjure up to feed schoolchildren? When it comes to the story and tradition of the U.S. South, and especially the events surrounding the Civil War (1861–1865), you may need to brace yourself. What you think you know about it is likely untrue – and not just by a little. Isaac C Bishop is a lifelong New-Englander who happened to become interested in southern culture. But when he began to earnestly study its history and folklore, he was shocked by what he ...
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thorough dismantling of the commonly-held opinion regarding slavery being the primary cause of the Civil War.
- By Thomas on 10-18-24
By: Isaac Bishop
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A Worse Place than Hell
- How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation
- By: John Matteson
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
December 1862 drove the United States toward a breaking point. The Battle of Fredericksburg shattered Union forces and Northern confidence. As Abraham Lincoln's government threatened to fracture, this critical moment also tested five extraordinary individuals whose lives reflect the soul of a nation. The changes they underwent led to profound repercussions in the country's law, literature, politics, and popular mythology. Taken together, their stories offer a striking restatement of what it means to be American.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic Intertwining!
- By Peter H. Christensen on 09-02-21
By: John Matteson
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Armies of Deliverance
- A New History of the Civil War
- By: Elizabeth R. Varon
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Loyal Americans marched off to war in 1861 not to conquer the South but to liberate it. So argues Elizabeth R. Varon in Armies of Deliverance, a sweeping narrative of the Civil War and a bold new interpretation of Union and Confederate war aims. Northerners imagined the war as a crusade to deliver the Southern masses from slaveholder domination and to bring democracy, prosperity, and education to the region. As the war escalated, Lincoln and his allies built the case that emancipation would secure military victory and benefit the North and South alike.
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5 out of 5 stars
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First rate history
- By John S. Pachter on 06-10-24
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Shiloh
- A Novel
- By: Shelby Foote
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 206
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 206
This fictional recreation of the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 is a stunning work of imaginative history, from Shelby Foote, beloved historian of the Civil War. Shiloh conveys not only the bloody choreography of Union and Confederate troops through the woods near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, but the inner movements of the combatants' hearts and minds.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great so detailed
- By chris calabrese on 05-06-19
By: Shelby Foote
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Braxton Bragg
- The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy
- By: Earl J. Hess
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
Civil War historian Earl J. Hess presents a compelling biography of Braxton Bragg, the commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the summer of 1862 to the end of 1863.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Thought-provoking
- By Jean on 02-11-18
By: Earl J. Hess
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The Heart of Hell
- The Soldiers' Struggle for Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle
- By: Jeffry D. Wert
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
The struggle over the fortified Confederate position known as Spotsylvania's Mule Shoe was without parallel during the Civil War. A Union assault that began at 4:30 A.M. on May 12, 1864, sparked brutal combat that lasted nearly twenty-four hours. By the time Grant's forces withdrew, some 55,000 men from Union and Confederate armies had been drawn into the fury, battling in torrential rain along the fieldworks at distances often less than the length of a rifle barrel. One Union private recalled the fighting as a "seething, bubbling, soaring hell of hate and murder."
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5 out of 5 stars
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The soldier’s’ perspectives
- By Amanda Tyler on 03-01-23
By: Jeffry D. Wert
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A Thousand May Fall
- Life, Death, and Survival in the Union Army
- By: Brian Matthew Jordan
- Narrated by: Christopher Douyard
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 6
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
The Civil War ended more than 150 years ago, yet our nation remains fiercely divided over its enduring legacies. In A Thousand May Fall, Pulitzer Prize finalist Brian Matthew Jordan returns us to the war itself. Creating an intimate, absorbing chronicle from the ordinary soldier's perspective, he allows us to see the Civil War anew - and through unexpected eyes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great info on the 107th Ohio
- By Anthony Salem on 07-11-24
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The Approaching Fury
- Voices of the Storm, 1820-1861
- By: Stephen B. Oates
- Narrated by: David Colacci, Susan Ericksen, David Sadzin
- Length: 22 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 19
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Story5 out of 5 stars 19
Biographer and historian Stephen B. Oates tells the story of the coming of the American Civil War through the voices and perspectives of 13 principal players in the drama, from Thomas Jefferson and Henry Clay in the Missouri crisis of 1820 down to Stephen A. Douglas, Jefferson Davis, and Abraham Lincoln in the final crisis of 1861. This innovative approach shows the crucial role that perception of events played in the sectional hostilities that pushed the United States irreversibly toward a national calamity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Straight From The Horse's Mouth
- By jamie21 on 08-18-21
By: Stephen B. Oates
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The Second Founding
- How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution
- By: Eric Foner
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 356
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 299
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 294
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar, a timely history of the constitutional changes that built equality into the nation's foundation and how those guarantees have been shaken over time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent book - problematic narrator
- By Jennifer on 10-01-19
By: Eric Foner
What listeners say about The War for the Common Soldier
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rick Lynch
- 08-17-24
A flowing historical narrative
I believe this might be the best book on the everyday challenges of the soldier.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-25-23
Common Soldiers From Both Sides
War is definitely hell to hear the words of both Union and Confederate soldiers. This is a refreshing history, centered more on the experiences of the fighters rather than the generals and politicians.
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