Jay Winik has essentially taken the bulk of the Civil War, its major actors and causes, and analyzed the entire cataclysmic event in the context of a single month - April 1865. Occasionally I find a book so great that as I read I cannot help 1) annotating the text, willing myself to remember pieces of it and 2) wishing that I might have written it myself. April 1865 is just such a book.
In roughly 400 action packed and beautifully written pages, Winik has provided his readers not only the background on the war itself, but mini-biographies of everyone from Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant (whose real name was Hiram; he became U.S. after he failed to correct a clerical error upon his admission to West Point), Jefferson Davis (middle name: Finis, as in his mother really was done after he, her tenth babe, was born), Robert E. Lee, Nathn Bedford Forrest, Andrew Johnson, John Wilkes Booth, William Sherman, Joe Johnston, and basically every other major general or politician of the era.
The events of a single month - the fall of Richmond, Lee's surrender, the assassination of Lincoln - are presented chronologically, yet with the history of all that proceeded and all that came after flawlessly knitted into their telling. The prose is often quite spare, allowing the events to speak for themselves. It is just as often was is not written that truly emerges, as in the description of Lee's final order to the men of the Army of Northern Virginia. After reproducing the order in full, Winik adds a single, simple sentence that elucidates clearly the relationship between North and South for decades to come. "For generations, General Orders Number 9 would be recited in the South with the same pride as the Gettysburg Address was learned in the North."
I can easily recommend April 1865 to anyone with a love of fine writing, an interest in American history, or an appreciation for the art of a good story, even - or especially - if the story is true. Four stars.
Must. Read. This. I read 1861 earlier this year. Now it's time for me to read about the end of the Civil War. Or maybe I should read a book about the war and then finish up with this one.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Lincoln? I feel like I need to see it immediately, but considering the last time I saw a movie in the theater was circa March 2011 I probably won't make it. Still haven't read Team of Rivals, either. *Sigh.*
Yes, definitely a must read. And, the way it's structured, it's fairly easy to read in pieces. Have you read the Shaara books (Gods and Generals, Killer Angels, The Last Full Measure)? Historical fiction, but probably some of the best reading on the war that I've read.
ReplyDeleteAs for the movie - I haven't seen it. Last movie I saw was King's Speech - if it had been a book, I would have probably read it instead. :-) Anyway, I may read Team of Rivals or Lincoln eventually, but right now I've reached by 1860s saturation point.