The Great Task Remaining

April 5, 2010
Civil War historian Marvel (Lincoln's Darkest Year
), a winner of the Lincoln Prize, demonstrates his usual command of archival and published sources in this significantly revisionist account of the Civil War's third year from the Union perspective. He challenges conventional triumphalism, demonstrating comprehensively that despite Vicksburg and Gettysburg, by 1863 Northern citizens and soldiers were increasingly and openly wondering whether preserving the union and ending slavery were worth the cost of “Mr. Lincoln's war.” Disillusion and war-weariness had set in: the war's only fruits seemed to be moral and political degradation, dangerous constitutional precedents, tens of thousands dead and maimed. The Battle of Chickamauga appeared to have restored the stalemate. Marvel particularly conveys the looming crisis of the impending expiration of the three-year enlistments that were the Union army's norm. That, combined with the increasing reluctance of Northern men to volunteer or send their sons, could have ended the war by default. “Romance and adventure” or “misery and peril”—which emotions would prevail? As Marvel conclusively demonstrates, the coin remained in the air as 1863 came to an end. 32 b&w photos, 6 maps.

May 1, 2010
Based primarily on manuscript sources, this quick-moving treatment by a Lincoln Prize-winning author meshes military history with political and social history, taking the reader from the battlefields to civil disorders on the home front in this third of Marvel's projected four-part study of Lincoln and the Civil War. With an eye to the role of class, gender, race, and ethnicity, Marvel ("Mr. Lincoln Goes to War; Lincoln's Darkest Year: The War in 1862") notes the strong support for continuing the war in some circles, but also the impact of war weariness and outright opposition to the war and the conscription that accompanied it. The year 1863 saw the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, but the Confederacy proved it was not overcome. Marvel's interpretation of the Gettysburg Address notes Lincoln's need to convince his listeners to support the continuation of the war in spite of war weariness. VERDICT Recommended; Civil War buffs and scholars alike will enjoy this work, especially if they have already read the previous two volumes. Larger public libraries and all academic libraries should collect the series.Theresa McDevitt, Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2010
For Abraham Lincoln, the Union army, and the general population of the North, 1863 was a pivotal year, characterized by extreme political and military turbulence and emotional highs and lows. The year encompassed the shattering defeats at Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville, a rising tide of antiwar sentiment, the near-simultaneous victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, draft riots in New York, and Lincolns Gettysburg Address. Marvel surveys this critical year in detail. This is less a portrait of Lincoln himself and more a portrait of the general state of the Union under the stress of war. Marvel portrays a population that is war-weary, confused concerning war aims, and less than enthusiastic about the sacrifices required for the war effort. Marvel places considerable emphasis upon the leadership and actions of the Copperheads, and he views many of them as principled opponents of Lincolns policies. This is a well-researched and well-written study that will be a fine addition to Civil War collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)