James M. McPherson
Auteur de La guerre de Sécession, 1861-1865
A propos de l'auteur
James M. McPherson is the author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, which won a Pulitzer Prize in history, and For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, a Lincoln Prize winner. He is the George Henry Davis Professor of American History at Princeton University in New Jersey, afficher plus where he also lives. His newest book, entitled Abraham Lincoln, celebrates the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth with a short, but detailed look at this president's life. (Bowker Author Biography) James M. McPherson, McPherson was born in 1936 and received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1963. He began teaching at Princeton University in the mid 1960's and is the author of several articles, reviews and essays on the Civil War, specifically focusing on the role of slaves in their own liberation and the activities of the abolitionists. His earliest work, "The Struggle for Equality," studied the activities of the Abolitionist movement following the Emancipation Proclamation. "Battle Cry of Freedom" won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1989. "Drawn With the Sword" (1996) is a collection of essays, with one entitled "The War that Never Goes Away," that is introduced by a passage from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address on March 4, 1865 from which its title came: "Fondly do we hope - and fervently do we pray - that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.'" "From Limited to Total War: 1861-1865" shows the depth of the political and social transformation brought about during the Civil War. It told how the human cost of the Civil War exceeded that of any country during World War I and explains the background to Lincoln's announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1862. The book also recounts the exploits of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first black regiments organized in the Civil War, and their attack on Fort Wagner in July 1863. It pays tribute to Robert Gould Shaw, the white commanding officer of the regiment, who died in the attack and was buried in a mass grave with many of his men. Professor McPherson's writings are not just about the middle decades of the nineteenth century but are also about the last decades of the twentieth century. The political turmoil prior to the Civil War, the violence of the war, Lincoln's legacy and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson shed some light on contemporary events. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins
Crédit image: Prof. James M. McPherson (photo courtesy of Princeton University)
Séries
Œuvres de James M. McPherson
The Negro's Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union (1965) 239 exemplaires
The Most Fearful Ordeal: Original Coverage of the Civil War by Writers and Reporters of The New York Times (2004) 83 exemplaires
Marching Toward Freedom: Blacks in the Civil War 1861-1865 (The Library of American History) (1965) 57 exemplaires
"We Cannot Escape History": Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth (1995) — Directeur de publication — 35 exemplaires
The Grand Old Man of Maine: Selected Letters of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 1865-1914 (2004) 26 exemplaires
Region, Race and Reconstruction: Essays in Honor of C. Vann Woodward (1982) — Directeur de publication — 19 exemplaires
American Heritage History of the Civil War 3 exemplaires
Lincoln and the strategy of unconditional surrender 2 exemplaires
THE ANTI-SLAVERY CRUSADE IN AMERICA: Memoir and Letters of Charles Sumner (3 Volume Set); Vol I; Vol II; Vol III — Directeur de publication — 1 exemplaire
A Walk at Gettysburg 1 exemplaire
'The Bloody Partnership' in NYRB LII/20, 15 Dec 2005 [review of Woodworth's 'Nothing but victory' & Flood's 'Grant &… 1 exemplaire
A New Christianity for a New World: why faith is dying and how a new faith is being born 1 exemplaire
'The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln' in NYRB 57/18, 25 Nov 2010 [review of Eric Foner's 'The Fiery Trial: Abraham… 1 exemplaire
THE HEDGEHOG AND THE FOXES 1 exemplaire
Encyclopedia of Civil War biographies 1 exemplaire
Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Concise Edition (Non-InfoTrac Version) (2000) 1 exemplaire
Podcast Meet the Writers: Civil War 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
What If? The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (1999) — Contributeur — 1,775 exemplaires
What Ifs? of American History : Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (2003) — Contributeur — 503 exemplaires
Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War (2006) — Introduction, quelques éditions — 296 exemplaires
Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women's Rights Movement (2008) — Directeur de publication — 149 exemplaires
Lees Lieutenants (3 Volumes In One Abridged) : A Study in Command (1942) — Introduction, quelques éditions — 142 exemplaires
Novel History: Historians and Novelists Confront America's Past and Each Other (2001) — Contributeur — 134 exemplaires
An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York… (1994) — Avant-propos — 131 exemplaires
Hearts Touched by Fire: The Best of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (Modern Library) (2011) — Contributeur — 90 exemplaires
Inside the Confederate nation : essays in honor of Emory M. Thomas (2005) — Contributeur — 16 exemplaires
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Summer 1990 (1990) — Author "Ulysses S. Grant's Final Victory" — 15 exemplaires
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Spring 1998 (1998) — Author "Antietam: The South's Missed Opportunity" — 15 exemplaires
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Spring 1991 (1991) — Author "How Lincoln Won the War With Metaphor" — 14 exemplaires
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Summer 1999 (1999) — Author "Failed Southern Strategies" — 11 exemplaires
Andersonville: The Complete Original Screenplay (1996) — Introduction, quelques éditions — 10 exemplaires
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Spring 2007 (2007) — Author "Any Measure Which May Best Subdue the Enemy" — 8 exemplaires
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Spring 2004 (2004) — Author "In Review: In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859-1863" — 6 exemplaires
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Date de naissance
- 1936-10-11
- Sexe
- male
- Nationalité
- USA
- Lieu de naissance
- Valley City, North Dakota, USA
- Lieux de résidence
- Valley City, North Dakota, USA (birth)
Princeton, New Jersey, USA - Études
- Gustavus Adolphus College (B.A.|1958)
Johns Hopkins University (Ph.D.|1963) - Professions
- professor
historian - Organisations
- Princeton University
American Historical Association - Prix et distinctions
- Samuel Eliot Morison Prize (2007)
Pritzker Literature Award (2007)
Jefferson Lecture (2000)
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Award (2014)
Phi Beta Kappa
Membres
Discussions
Shelfby Foote v. Bruce Catton v. James McPherson à American Civil War (Juillet 2017)
Critiques
Listes
Prix et récompenses
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 68
- Aussi par
- 28
- Membres
- 14,620
- Popularité
- #1,575
- Évaluation
- 4.0
- Critiques
- 199
- ISBN
- 247
- Langues
- 6
- Favoris
- 27
Neither eloquent nor impartial, lacking any new hypotheses and perspectives, this work falls abysmally short of what one should expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner.
A dry read that is laced with sanctimonious regurgitation of political agendas that were made with hindsight many decades after the Civil War. McPherson portrays – if he does at all - the characters of the era (leading men and lower ranks alike) like long dried-up gingerbread men and to add insult to injury the majority of such characters are related to the Union. There is also noticeable “cherry-picking” involved in his scheme. Clearly, in such instances when he writes about notables that fought for the South, he selects the most infamous ones, and then spends his mediocre literary talent expanding - even carefully trotting out their most damning character flaws and recorded actions - of which there were many.
A less than sophisticated writing style one can forgive but should not a writer of a serious work of any history abstain from such subterfuge?
Most readers don’t seem to care and neither does the association awarding the Pulitzer Prize. At least, they did not in 1989. Well, the reasons completely elude me.
This is even more puzzling as there are infinitely better works out there like Shelby Foote’s equally eloquent and exhaustive Narrative of the Civil War though offering a somewhat narrower perspective does include intriguing new perspectives. Also much more neutral in tone is Controversies and Commanders: Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac by Stephen Sears. I get it, the writer is an educated, smart man but in this here case - who wrote this here book then?… (plus d'informations)