The great task remaining : the third year of Lincoln's war

Author / Creator

Marvel, William

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Summary

""The most provocative account of events in 1861 in a generation. Readers who think they understand the Civil War's first year and the roles played by Abraham Lincoln, Nathaniel Lyon, Charles Stone...

""The most provocative account of events in 1861 in a generation. Readers who think they understand the Civil War's first year and the roles played by Abraham Lincoln, Nathaniel Lyon, Charles Stone, and a host of others should brace themselves for a bold new perspective."---A. Wilson Greene, author of The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign" ""Another provocative work by the leading contrarian historian of the American Civil War."---George C. Rable, author of Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!" ""A brilliant narrative that reveals the possibilities of the past that were squandered by historical figures who seem so unassailable and godlike to us today."---Peter S. Carmichael, author of The Last Generation" ""Offering a skeptical and gritty view of the Union war effort, featuring scheming politicians, bumbling generals, and an increasingly disheartened Northern public. Marvel's narrative is sure to sound a discordant note as it vigorously challenges prevailing interpretations of Abraham Lincoln, the people he led, and the war he sought to wage."---Brooks D. Simpson, author of Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity, 1822-1865" ""Like no other scholar, William Marvel describes in detail the North's manifold weaknesses, including internal conflicts, incompetence, and jealousies at every level, rampant and persistent racism, ugly scandals, dangerous gambles, and frequent military disasters, any one of which might have lost the war."---T. Michael Parrish, Linden G. Bowers Professor of American History, Baylor University" "Revisionist History at Its Best, The Great Task Remaining offers a masterly re-creation of the third year of our nation's greatest crisis. It is a striking, often poignant portrait of people balancing their own values---rather than ours---to determine whether the horrors attending Mr. Lincoln's war were worth bearing in order to achieve his ultimate goals." "During the four and a half months between the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address, the Confederacy roared back to life after its terrible loss on that famous field. Indeed, 1863 was another deeply challenging year for the Union, including a bloody setback at Chancellorsville and a humiliating defeat at Chickamauga. Without abandoning the underlying sympathy for Lincoln, Marvel makes a convincing argument for the Gettysburg Address as being less a paean to liberty than an appeal to stay the course in the face of rampant antiwar sentiment." "The Great Task Remaining offers a provocative history of a dramatic year---a year that saw victory and defeat, doubt and riot---as well as a compelling story of a people who clung to the promise of a much-longed-for end."--BOOK JACKET.

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