Free Downloads The West Point History Of The Civil War (The West Point History Of Warfare Series)
The definitive military history of the Civil War, featuring the same exclusive images, tactical maps, and expert analysis commissioned by The United States Military Academy to teach the history of the art of war to West Point cadets.The United States Military Academy at West Point is the gold standard for military history and the operational art of war. West Point has created military history texts for its cadets since 1836. For the first time in over forty years, the United States Military Academy has authorized a new military history series that will bear the name West Point. That text has been updated repeatedly, but now it has been completely rewritten and The West Point History of the Civil War is the first volume to result in a new series of military histories authorized by West Point.The West Point History of the Civil War combines the expertise of preeminent historians commissioned by West Point, hundreds of maps uniquely created by cartographers under West Point’s direction, and hundreds of images, many created for this volume or selected from West Point archives. Offering careful analysis of the political context of military decisions, The West Point History of the Civil War is singularly brilliant at introducing the generals and officer corps of both Union and Confederacy, while explaining the tactics, decisions, and consequences of individual battles and the ebb and flow of the war. For two years it has been beta-tested, vetted, and polished by cadets, West Point faculty, and West Point graduates and the results are clear: This is the best military history of its kind available anywhere.
Series: The West Point History of Warfare Series (Book 1)
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 21, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1476782628
ISBN-13: 978-1476782621
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 1.5 x 10.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #123,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #96 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Campaigns & Battlefields #1101 in Books > History > Military > United States #1458 in Books > History > Americas > United States > State & Local
The United States Military Academy was established at West Point, New York on March 16 1802. The Academy, colloquially known as “West Point” has and continues to train its cadets in a rigorous four-year program for future service as officers in The United States Army. Graduates of the academy have led soldiers into battle in every American conflict since the War of 1812, including the Civil War.New estimates of the put the casualties of the Civil War at over 700,000, a figure more than all other American wars combined. Officers trained at “The Point” led armies on both sides of the war, and often classmates found themselves opposing each other on opposite sides of the battlefields of the war. Therefore it is fitting that the Academy has published “The West Point History of the Civil War.” Published by Simon & Schuster, it is the first volume in a series “The West Point History of Warfare.”“The West Point History of the Civil War” is a large book of 448 pages, measuring 10.9 x 8.6 x 1.6 inches, and weighing 4.2 pounds. Its semi-glossy pages are richly illustrated with maps, photographs and illustrations highlighting the personalities, battles, and places of the Civil War era. The book is divided into 6 chapters, each covering a period or aspect of the war and each written by some of Americas best and most prominent historians:• Origins of the Civil War and the Contest for the Borderlands by Mark E. Neely Jr.• The War in the East: July 1861-September 1862 by Joseph T. Glatthaar.• Lee’s War in the East, by Joseph T. Glatthaar.• Grant’s War in the West by Steven E. Woodworth.• Coordinated Strategy and Hard War by Earl J. Hess.• The End of the War and Reconstruction by James K. Hogue.
This volume is a disappointment. Being a graduate of West Point and having taken the course History of the Military Art using the older, much better West Point Atlas of American Wars (and still using it for research purposes) I was surprised at the oversimplification of the text and the newer, 'gee whiz' style of the maps in this volume. The book overall reminds me of the very visual and text-lacking history texts that are now being produced for both middle and high school history courses. This group of history texts are substandard and 'dumbed down' and unfortunately the same thing is quite obvious with this text.Not only is the older 1959 Atlas (whose first volume, which includes the Civil War, was updated and republished some years ago) a superior volume and covers the campaigns and battles in a much more competent manner, but the excellent, and large, Civil War volume produced by American Heritage in 1960, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, is also a much better volume, with text by Bruce Catton. This volume and the early West Point Atlas are both much superior to this new volume and are quality works that can be used as references, especially for researchers and writers, while the new volume cannot.There are excellent sections in the text, such as accurate descriptions, albeit abbreviated, of the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 and its included Seven Days' Battles, and the evaluation of McClellan as an army commander and his lack of ability is right on the money. But the coastal campaigns are not included (the taking of Fort Fisher outside of Wilmington, North Carolina) is mentioned on one page only. Overall, however, the text is general in nature and not specific and cannot compare favorably with the two above mentioned volumes.
The West Point History of the Civil War (The West Point History of Warfare Series) West Point Atlas for the American Civil War (The West Point Military History Series) Sons of Privilege: The Charleston Light Dragoons in the Civil War (Civil War Sesquicentennial Edition) (Civil War Sesquicentennial Edition (University of South Carolina Press)) Roman Warfare (Smithsonian History of Warfare) Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors, and Warfare in the Ancient Civilizations of Greece and Rome The Civil War and the Wars of the Nineteenth Century (Smithsonian History of Warfare) Don Troiani's Civil War Cavalry & Artillery (Don Troiani's Civil War Series) Don Troiani's Civil War Infantry (Don Troiani's Civil War Series) Don Troiani's Civil War Zouaves, Chasseurs, Special Branches, & Officers (Don Troiani's Civil War Series) CIVIL WAR BLOCKADE RUNNING ON THE TEXAS COAST (Civil War Series) Top Secret Files: The Civil War: Spies, Secret Missions, and Hidden Facts from the Civil War (Top Secret Files of History) Photographic History of The Civil War: Vicksburg to Appomattox (Civil War Times Illustrated) (v. 2) Behind the Blue and Gray: The Soldier's Life in the Civil War (Young Readers' History of the Civil War) This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Vintage Civil War Library) The Civil War (True Books: Civil War (Paperback)) The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War (Civil War America) The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 3: Red River to Appomattox (Vintage Civil War Library) The Battle of First Bull Run: The Civil War Begins (Graphic Battles of the Civil War) The First Republican Army: The Army of Virginia and the Radicalization of the Civil War (A Nation Divided: Studies in the Civil War Era) A Broken Regiment: The 16th Connecticut's Civil War (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
