The Civil War as you've never experienced it before, through original, first-hand reportage of The New York Times, the country's newspaper of record. Available for the first time in a unique book/DVD package
The New York Times, established in 1851, was one of the few newspapers with correspondents on the front lines throughout the Civil War. The Complete Civil War collects every article written about the war from 1861 to 1865, plus select pieces before and after the war and is filled with the action, politics, and personal stories of this monumental event. From the first shot fired at Fort Sumter to the surrender at Appomattox, and from the Battle of Antietam to the Battle of Atlanta, as well as articles on slavery, states rights, the role of women, and profiles of noted heroes such as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, the era comes alive through these daily first-hand accounts.
- More than 600 of the most crucial and interesting articles in the book?typeset and designed for easy reading
- Commentary by Editors and Civil War scholars Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds
- More than 104,000 additional articles on the DVD-ROM? every article the Times published during the war.
- A detailed chronology highlights articles and events of interest that can be found on the disk.
Strikingly designed and illustrated with hundreds of maps, historical photographs, and engravings, this book is a treasure for Civil War and history buffs everywhere.
"This is a fascinating and riveting look at the most important event in American history as seen through the eyes of an institution that was emerging as the most important newspaper in American history. In these pages, the Civil War seems new and fresh, unfolding day after anxious day, as the fate of the republic hangs in the balance." Ken Burns
"Serious historians and casual readers alike will find this extraordinary collection of 600 articles and editorials about the Civil War published in The New York Times before and during the war of great value and interest...enough to keep the most assiduous student busy for the next four years of the war's sesquicentennial observations." James McPherson
"This fascinating work catapults readers back in time, allowing us to live through the Civil War as daily readers of The New York Times, worrying about the outcome of battles, wondering about our generals, debating what to do about slavery, hearing the words that Lincoln spoke, feeling passionate about our politics. Symonds and Holzer have found an ingenious new way to experience the most dramatic event in our nation's history."
Doris Kearns Goodwin
"Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds have included not only every pertinent article from the pages of The Times, but enhanced and illuminated them with editorial commentary that adds context and perspective, making the articles more informative and useful here than they were in the original issues. Nowhere else can readers of today get such an understanding of how readers of 1861-1865 learned of and understood their war." William C Davis
PROLOGUE: “The Question of Freedom or Slavery: The Coming of the Civil War”
Chapter 1. “The Approaching Triumph of Mr. Lincoln”
Chapter 2. “The Momentous Issue of Civil War”
Chapter 3. “The Excitement… Has Been Intense”
Chapter 4. “The Greatest Battle Ever Fought on This Continent”
Chapter 5. “What We Are Fighting For”
Chapter 6. “The Darkest and Gloomiest Year”
Chapter 7. “The Iron Gunboats Have Settled the Question”
Chapter 8. “Operations Seem Everywhere to Have Come Almost to a Dead Halt”
Chapter 9. “In Front of Richmond”
Chapter 10. “Removing That Dreadful Evil”
Chapter 11. “A People Suffering Fearfully”
Chapter 12. “If We Win a Battle”
Chapter 13. “A Terrific Crash of Musketry”
Chapter 14. “An Action of Gigantic Magnitude”
Chapter 15. “A Desperate Engagement”
Chapter 16. “The Shock of Battle”
Chapter 17. “By Renouncing Their Treason”
Chapter 18. “Grant and Staff Arrived Here To-day”
Chapter 19. “We Are Going on to Richmond, Depend Upon It”
Chapter 20. “Fighting has been Going on Nearly All Day”
Chapter 21. “What These Old Heroes Do”
Chapter 22. “The Very Life of the Nation is at Stake”
Chapter 23. “No Such Thing as Compromise”
Chapter 24. “The Great Struggle Is Over”
Chapter 25. “This Hour of Mourning and of Gloom”
EPILOGUE: “What Is To Be Done With the Negro?”
The New York Times Chronology of the Civil War