I just finished Hymns of the Republic, a fabulous Civil War history by S. C. Gwynne, the second time the author has been reviewed in this blog. I raved about Empire of the Summer Moon, and I had a similar positive feeling about this one. Although this book is a bit off-genre because it’s nonfiction, the action of the story which focuses on the fourth and final year of the Civil War is incredible. Lincoln’s run for reelection in 1864 was in deep trouble, and until Ulysses Grant arrived on the scene, Lincoln's generals were not making progress in the war against the South despite having significantly favorable population numbers and factory production of weapons. The public was growing tired of the high cost of the war.

In a graphic manner, Gwynne captured the essence of having been a soldier during the pre-antibiotic era, as well as the generally miserable soldier’s life. Gwynne also told the story of Clara Barton, “the Battlefield Angel.” She had a major impact on the treatment of soldiers both during and after the war, and she was a remarkable woman who took care of the injured troops despite significant prejudice against her presence in the war theater. He also captured the horrors of Sherman’s march to the sea in a way that I had not fully grasped before. Both sides had generals who were making big mistakes which costs the lives of thousands of men.

Near the end of the book, Gwynne addressed both the events which led to the war’s end at Appomattox and the assassination of Lincoln. I love American history and I’m thrilled that I got to read this book. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with a prepublication copy, and I believe that this nonfiction work has only been released for purchase in the last few days. If you are a fan of this period of American history, then reading this book is a must. Gwynne is clearly a master of nonfiction writing.

With thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!

Those readers who gravitate toward Civil War history always welcome the sight of a new book about the era – but may also approach said book with considerable wariness, wondering what can be left to say. Happily, S.C. Gwynne’s Hymns of the Republic not only creates new connections between familiar episodes of the struggle but creates them in beautiful and accessible language. Students, especially, will benefit from the sense of excitement that infuses the prose the makes one eagerly turn pages. Short chapters further contribute to making the complex material easy to navigate; the armies of Meade and Grant might get lost in the Wilderness, but the readers of this text will not!

The author also makes these distant events modern and exciting in a way that seems to pay tribute to the Civil War fiction of Ralph Peters. The reader is thrust into combat, forced to face down “horrors of spurting blood, spilling intestines, and exploding heads,” – an image not often conveyed by the staunch stateliness of the memorials in our parks and on our battlefields. Imagery is the great strength of this work; by layering sensory details (the nickering of horses, violets blooming on the roadsides, bloodied puddles), the author transports the reader to the scene – whether that scene is Lee surveying Federal troops from a mountaintop, the wounded left in warehouses as a new route is dictated for ambulances, African Americans fleeing the slaughter at Fort Pillow.

The end of the war turns is full of amazing stories – and lessons. Gwynne examines a shift in the treatment of civilians during wartime, the changing goals of the war (now fought for Union and to abolish slavery), fears about alienating border slaves and freedmen flooding Northern labor markets, the grim mathematics of casualties, and how the Emancipation Proclamation helped to deprive the South of manpower. Grant’s reputation is bolstered as readers learn that he was valued for his stick-to-itiveness and resolution to move forward. Other chapters address the importance and deadliness of trenches, battlefield theology, the legend and psychology of Lee, and “spiritual casualties” – men who no longer wanted to fight. The trials facing black soldiers, especially, are thoughtfully illuminated. These issues unfold against the backdrop of well-known battles and make them seem real and immediate in a way that other accounts that I have read have not. Also made real and brought to life are Lincoln’s fears regarding reelection, guerilla warfare, Sherman’s theorizing, and the radical shift in the North from despair to hope. Most amazing of all is the fact that some well-loved stories turn out to be just that – and, yet, we have appreciated them and retold them over the years. The way we recount the Civil War may well tell us something about ourselves as a nation. With tellers as gifted as Gwynne, the story is likely to be spun out for a good long while yet!

A must read for all history buffs. S.C. Gwynne's latest book gives concise and very interesting details on the events of 1864 in America, the last year of the Civil War.

Gwynne's prose flows terrifically, giving the reader just enough detail to vividly describe each talking point without bogging you down with too many facts. I learned quite a lot from this epic account, and appreciate Gwynne's fairly non-biased view portrayed in his accounts. For that reason, I can accurately say Hymns of the Republic is a well researched book that will give the reader viewpoints of the final year of the war, to help understand each the North and South perspectives. He argues that all of the great Civil War leaders had their flaws, even President Lincoln and General Lee. His descriptions of cities and battles can be grim, giving the reader a raw picture of the true state of affairs.

I would've finished reading it sooner if work wasn't keeping me busy. This book is hard to put down, like all of the author's books I have read. I strongly recommend checking it out, as this deserves every bit of my five star rating, and I look forward to re-reading it in due time.

Thank you to Netgalley, Scribner, and S.C. Gwynne for sharing with me an ARC.

This was a terrific book about the last year of the Civil War. Clear and concise, this is popular history at its best. It read like a novel

A highly readable, highly engaging narrative regarding the Civil War from April of 1864 to April of 1865, focusing prominently on the stories of the major players involved.

The author begins by framing the scene based on all that had happened beforehand: Union superiority in resources, Confederate superiority in tactics and leadership. The author describes U.S. Grant, Clara Barton, Robert E. Lee, and William Tecumseh Sherman in detail. The author describes Grant's overall military strategy in how to bring the war to a conclusion, and working to make sure that Lincoln would be re-elected in the fall of 1864.

The Wilderness campaign, Petersburg, Atlanta, Sherman's March to the Sea, Sherman's march through South Carolina, and the final days of fighting from Petersburg to Appomattox are spoken of, although the paucity of detail in describing many of the important battles was a little frustrating.

A well-researched, overall well-presented, and highly engaging narrative.

Gwynne covers the last year of the Civil War in a fast paced and very readable book that is hard to put down. Each of the 23 chapters covers a person or event. He doesn’t try to give a chronological narrative, but allows the story to be told through mini biographies of the main characters of history.
Why another history of the Civil War. The appendix is 10% of the book and includes hundreds of references. (I didn’t take the time to count them, but it is voluminous.) Gwynne has accomplished what few have done. He has made history not only interesting but personal. He doesn’t devote enough pages to each character to give a detailed biography, but he focuses on the personal characteristics of the characters, the motives that drove them and the strengths or weaknesses that shaped history.
I highly recommend this work.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a prepublication ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As with other books that I have read by the author this one is well written and researched. He takes a very different viewpoint from others that I have read about this same time period during the American Civil War. He chooses to basically state that the well known leaders of the year Grant, Lee, Sherman and Lincoln were all seriously flawed and nowhere near the heroes that they have been presented by others. A reader must remember that this is the author's opinion and reality is most likely somewhere between his opinion and others.

I recommend this book for those looking for an alternative view of the last year of the American Civil War.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook  page.

Another wonderful book from S. C. Gwynne. I knew, from reading EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON 3x that Gwynne is a great storyteller, insightful and even-handed and humorous, even, and these qualities showed up again. (Lincoln's description of Genl Phil Sheridan had me giggling.) If you're find all things Civil War fascinating, which I pretty much do, this is more than a worthwhile read.

As the subtitle makes clear, the book covers roughly the last 14 months of the war, kicking off with Grant's arrival in Washington, D.C., to take charge of the Union armies, and ending with Clara Barton touring the graves of the former Andersonville prisoner-of-war camp. Of course it covers territory familiar from countless other Civil War histories and biographies, but Gwynne usually always brings some little perspective or tidbit I hadn't heard of before, like why the Wilderness was such a wilderness--second-growth mess after iron production operations had chopped down and used all the old-growth forest. And it's always fun to beat up on George McLellan, Copperhead Democrats, and political infighting.

Thank you to the publisher for the chance to review this book. (Note, at location 3760, "Union soldiers" should be "rebel soldiers." And, at location 4111, "subordination" should be "insubordination.")

Hymns of the Republic is a great book and gives us new incites to a subject that has many books on it. The author has done a lot of research and is a fabulous historical writer.

Admittedly it is difficult to divorce S.C. Gwynne’s newest book from his previous best-selling work. “Empire of the Summer Moon”, which introduced a wide audience to Quannah Parker and the impressive Comanche Empire, was always going to be a difficult act to follow, and Gwynne makes things even more challenging by picking a topic that already has such an extensive amount written upon it. With all that being said, “Hymns of the Republic” overall is still a solid epic narrative of an incredibly critical year in America’s history, and offers its readers much in the way of thoughtful new perspectives.