General Sherman's Christmas

October 15, 2009
Written in you-are-there spirit, Weintraubs narrative of Shermans March partakes of letters and diaries of people affected by that Civil War campaign. The authors choice for illustrationsdrawings of the march published in 186465 issues of Harpers Weekly and similar magazinesaugments the contemporaneous effect. Both the prosaic and the immediate characterize this account, as Weintraub quotes Northern soldiers descriptions of foraging and Southern civilians alarm at the advance of the Union host. Its destination after leaving Atlanta in shamblesAugusta? Charleston? Savannah?looms as the main Confederate worry, which Weintraub tracks on plantations and among Confederate generals rallying resistance to Sherman. If Weintraubs work is less detailed than Noah Andre Trudeaus Southern Storm (2008), a purer military history of the march, it is because of Weintraubs greater emphasis on how the campaign shocked Georgian civilianswhich was Shermans purpose, the historical significance of his operation, and the reason Civil War buffs keep returning to this subject. Weintraub, author of the best-selling Silent Night (2001), has a proven track record as a popular historian that will, in combination with his winning topic, draw readers to his latest work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)