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The Union War
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
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Publisher's summary
Even 150 years later, we are haunted by the Civil War---by its division, its bloodshed, and perhaps, above all, by its origins. Today, many believe that the war was fought over slavery. This answer satisfies our contemporary sense of justice, but as Gary W. Gallagher shows in this brilliant revisionist history, it is an anachronistic judgment. In a searing analysis of the Civil War North as revealed in contemporary letters, diaries, and documents, Gallagher demonstrates that what motivated the North to go to war and persist in an increasingly bloody effort was primarily preservation of the Union. Devotion to the Union bonded nineteenth-century Americans in the North and West against a slaveholding aristocracy in the South and a Europe that seemed destined for oligarchy. Northerners believed they were fighting to save the republic, and with it the world's best hope for democracy. Once we understand the centrality of union, we can in turn appreciate the force that made Northern victory possible: the citizen-soldier. Gallagher reveals how the massive volunteer army of the North fought to confirm American exceptionalism by salvaging the Union. Contemporary concerns have distorted the reality of nineteenth-century Americans, who embraced emancipation primarily to punish secessionists and remove slavery as a future threat to union---goals that emerged in the process of war. As Gallagher recovers why and how the Civil War was fought, we gain a more honest understanding of why and how it was won.
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- How the Civil War Created a Nation
- By: David Goldfield
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 27 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In this spellbinding new history, David Goldfield offers the first major new interpretation of the Civil War era since James M. McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. Where past scholars have interpreted the war as a triumph of freedom, Goldfield sees it as America's greatest failure: the result of a breakdown caused by the infusion of evangelical religion into the public sphere.
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Great and indepth
- By Kindle Customer on 06-02-14
By: David Goldfield
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Custer's Trials
- A Life on the Frontier of a New America
- By: T.J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 23 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Custer and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-17-15
By: T.J. Stiles
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Russia
- The Story of War
- By: Gregory Carleton
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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No nation is a stranger to war, but for Russians war is a central part of who they are. Their "motherland" has been the battlefield where some of the largest armies have clashed, the most savage battles have been fought, the highest death tolls paid. Having prevailed over Mongol hordes and vanquished Napoleon and Hitler, many Russians believe no other nation has sacrificed so much for the world.
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A bit dry and academic
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-16-17
By: Gregory Carleton
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The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History
- By: Gary W. Gallagher - editor, Alan T. Nolan - editor
- Narrated by: Keith McCarthy
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Was the Confederacy doomed from the start in its struggle against the superior might of the Union? Did its forces fight heroically against all odds for the cause of states’ rights? In reality, these suggestions are an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of Southerners to rationalize the secession and the war itself. Unfortunately, skillful propagandists have been so successful in promoting this romanticized view that the Lost Cause has assumed a life of its own.
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Putting down "The Great Pro-Slavery Rebellion"
- By Buretto on 07-30-18
By: Gary W. Gallagher - editor, and others
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The War That Forged a Nation
- Why the Civil War Still Matters
- By: James McPherson
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James M. McPherson considers why the Civil War remains so deeply embedded in our national psyche and identity. The drama and tragedy of the war help explain why the Civil War remains a topic of interest. But the legacy of the war extends far beyond historical interest or scholarly attention.
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A Different Kind of History from McPherson
- By Carole T. on 08-11-16
By: James McPherson
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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
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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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Amazing Book
- By Larry on 12-01-16
By: Michael Medved
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South (and Why it Will Rise Again)
- By: Clint Johnson
- Narrated by: Dianna Dorman
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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With its emphasis on traditional values, family, faith, military service, good manners, small government, and independent-minded people, the South should certainly rise again. Far from being the backwater of prejudice and ignorance that the liberal media would have you believe, the South has always been the center of American culture.
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Tubby Bearded Guy reference earned an extra star
- By Ed on 09-30-17
By: Clint Johnson
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His Excellency
- George Washington
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed author Joseph J. Ellis penned the National Book Award-winning American Sphinx and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers, a fixture on The New York Times best seller list for an entire year, and one of the most popular history books of all time. Now this master historian turns his attention to the most exalted American hero, Founding Father and first President George Washington.
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Ellis is a known liar
- By Theresa on 02-21-05
By: Joseph J. Ellis
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A Wicked War
- Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico
- By: Amy S. Greenberg
- Narrated by: Caroline Shaffer
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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A Wicked War presents the definitive history of the 1846 war between the United States and Mexico - a conflict that turned America into a continental power. Amy Greenberg describes the battles between American and Mexican armies, but also delineates the political battles between Democrats and Whigs - the former led by the ruthless Polk, the latter by the charismatic Henry Clay and a young representative from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. Greenberg brilliantly recounts this key chapter in the creation of the United States authority and narrative flair.
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Rubbish Historical Work, Lots of Fake Stuff
- By Jose on 04-28-17
By: Amy S. Greenberg
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Far beyond the scope of the battle
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Ambitious idea but falls short
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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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Ambitious idea but falls short
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Dixie's Daughters
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In The Cause of All Nations, distinguished historian Don H. Doyle explains that the Civil War was more than an internal American conflict; it was a struggle that spanned the Atlantic Ocean. This audiobook follows the agents of the North and South who went abroad to tell the world what they were fighting for, and the foreign politicians, journalists, and intellectuals who told America and the world what they thought this war was really about - or ought to be about.
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Armies of Deliverance
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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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10 Big Questions of the American Civil War
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In 10 Big Questions of the American Civil War, join noted author and Civil War historian Dr. Caroline E. Janney, a professor at the University of Virginia, for a pointed examination of some of the most intriguing, provocative, and enduring questions about the Civil War era. The aim of these 10 eye-opening lectures is to separate myth from memory.
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Rockyp
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Tullahoma
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July 1863 was a momentous month in the Civil War. News of Gettysburg and Vicksburg electrified the North and devastated the South. Sandwiched geographically between those victories and lost in the heady tumult of events was news that William S. Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland had driven Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee entirely out of Middle Tennessee. The brilliant campaign nearly cleared the state of Rebels and changed the calculus of the Civil War in the Western Theater. Despite its decisive significance, few people even today know of these events.
By: David A. Powell, and others
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The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History
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- Narrated by: Keith McCarthy
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Was the Confederacy doomed from the start in its struggle against the superior might of the Union? Did its forces fight heroically against all odds for the cause of states’ rights? In reality, these suggestions are an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of Southerners to rationalize the secession and the war itself. Unfortunately, skillful propagandists have been so successful in promoting this romanticized view that the Lost Cause has assumed a life of its own.
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Putting down "The Great Pro-Slavery Rebellion"
- By Buretto on 07-30-18
By: Gary W. Gallagher - editor, and others
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To the Gates of Richmond
- The Peninsula Campaign
- By: Stephen Sears
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the largest campaign ever attempted in the Civil War: the Peninsula campaign of 1862. General George McClellan planned to advance from Yorktown up the Virginia Peninsula and destroy the Rebel army in its own capital. But with Robert E. Lee delivering blows to the Union army, McClellan’s plan fell through at the gates of Richmond.
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Magnificent chronicle of mismanagement
- By Triceracop on 10-08-13
By: Stephen Sears
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Master of War
- The Life of General George H. Thomas
- By: Benson Bobrick
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In this revelatory, dynamic biography, Benson Bobrick, profiles George H. Thomas, arguing that he was the greatest and most successful general of the Civil War. Because Thomas didn't live to write his memoirs, his reputation has been largely shaped by others, most notably Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, two generals with whom Thomas served and who diminished his successes in their favor in their own memoirs.
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Nutshell: Grant, Sherman bad – Thomas good
- By Dereck on 11-18-10
By: Benson Bobrick
What listeners say about The Union War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Matt Haynes
- 10-06-17
Amazing book.....but....
.....who told the narrator he had the talent for accents? Good grief! Possibly the worst attempt at a southern male accent only topped by the attempt at a southern female accent. I can’t even describe the Irish and British attempts. The narrator was fine otherwise.
The author is incredibly knowledgeable and I have enjoyed his Great Courses lectures. We would have been much better served had he narrated his own book.
If you can get past the narrator’s accents this is an excellent listen.
I especially enjoyed the historical emphasis on war for Union.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chiefkent
- 07-19-12
Non-revisionist
Dr. Gallagher focuses the Civil War in historical terms of the 19th Century, stripping away the political correctness attributions revised since the civil rights era of the 1960's of the North fighting to free the slaves. Yes, slavery was the issue that cause the secession of the southern states, but the the northern states were fighting to retain the Union, with slavery if necessary but one country. He ties the concept of 'Manifest Destiny' with the principles of the Declaration of Independence to explain why the people of the north fought the Civil War, in their own words.
The recent crop of histories and documentaries have been maintaining that the northern states fought primarily to free the slaves. There was a reason that Lincoln couldn't issue the Emancipation Proclamation until late 1863 - political suicide. Only a minority of northern citizens supported emancipating the slaves until it was put into terms of destroying the southern economy and hastening the end of the war. Saving the Union was the primary purpose that both new immigrants and established citizens of the northern states volunteered for Federal Service.
Mel Foster does yeoman work narrating Dr. Gallagher's work.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Jeff Harper
- 04-28-24
Great review of holding union together view of Civil War
I had listened to previous history lecture series by the lecturer so added this one. Saw it was leaving Plus catalog on 5/7/24 so moved it up the to listen list. Really was informative on the policy side of the war.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-07-12
writer needs editing!
Would you try another book from Gary W. Gallagher and/or Mel Foster?
I would not try another book by Gallagher.
Would you be willing to try another book from Gary W. Gallagher? Why or why not?
the book has very interesting material but the author repeats certain statements in order to make his point clear. I find it tedious.
Have you listened to any of Mel Foster’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
The reader is quite good although I did speed up the pacing. I found Mel Foster's accents when quoting the various personages very entertaining.
I have not ever listened to him reading before.
Do you think The Union War needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
I have not finished it yet!!
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