Battle Cry of Freedom has great ratings on the historical accuracy of the Civil War era.  Though some complain the 800 and counting page book lacks some of the important details, many express that it does a great job of covering not only the war itself; but also the politics, and daily lifestyles of everyone in that time. One of the reviews that enjoyed the book overall commented on how they enjoyed the first two hundred some off pages were dedicated to the before aspect, and events leading up to the war. I think this could be really neat; we often get thrown right into the middle of a battle scene in textbooks. Never fully understanding what lead up to this moment. The before can hold many key points in understanding what and why this battle is happening, why this general is in the position he is in; and so on and so forth.

            In many of the Amazon reviews they talk of it being extremely dry and all politics. Though it won awards and is put on a pedestal to critics many people find it hard to understand what these people see in it because they cannot find it, wondering, “What they missed.” The authors writing style was said many times to be “unexciting, and lacking flow.” Another key thing I keep reading is that the author focuses more on the racial issues than many of the other grave issues that were a part of this time.  While many see this book spot on and covering key factors of this war, there will always be people who have a different opinion of each issue going on at the time.

I for one am on the fence of each sides, I’m sure the book is well written, and covers many of the larger issues in the civil war. I feel that it will be incredibly dry and more factual based reading, than really getting a good look at the individual lives of each big general on each side of the war.  I worry most that the author will focus manly on the race issues, and not at the other large issues at hand. Many think the civil war was only about slavery in the south and how the north no longer wanted it. But there are other issues that are often left out in these situations. I hope he focuses on the political issues, and what was going on in each of the head general lives at the time. I have read many books focusing on this and it helped me find a better understanding about the civil war than others in the past.  I have hope for this book, but I don’t want it too be too high because of the mixed reviews.