{"product_id":"the-civil-war-a-narrative-red-river-to-appomattox","title":"The Civil War: A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox","description":"Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time  Twenty years ago  in 1954  novelist Shelby Foote began this monumental work with these words: \"It was a Monday in Washington  January 21; Jefferson Davis rose from his seat in the Senate...\"  In the third -- and last -- volume of this vivid history  he brings to a close the story of four years of turmoil and strife which altered American life forever. Here  told in vivid narrative and as seen from both sides  are those climactic struggles  great and small  on and off the field of battle  which finally decided the fate of this nation.  \"Red River to Appomattox\" opens with the beginning of the two final  major confrontations of the war: Grant against Lee in Virginia  and Sherman pressing Johnston in North Georgia. While the Virginia-Georgia fighting is in progress  Kearsarge sinks the Alabama and Forrest gains new laurels at Brices Crossroads.  With Grant and Lee deadlocked at Petersburg  Sherman takes Atlanta -- assuring Lincolns reelection  together with the certainty that the war will be fought (not negotiated) to a finish. These events are followed by Hoods bold northward strike through middle Tennessee while Sherman sets out on his march to the sea  to be opposed at its end by the ghost of the Army of Tennessee. Hood is wrecked by Thomas in front of Nashville-the last big battle -- and Savannah falls to Sherman  who presents it to Lincoln as a Christmas gift.  Meantime  Early has threatened Washington  Price has toured Missouri  Farragut has damned the torpedoes in Mobile Bay  Forrest has raided Memphis  and Cushing has single-handedly sunk the Albemarle. And Sherman heads north through the Carolinas  burning Columbia en route  while Sheridan rips the entrails out of the Shenandoah Valley.  Lincolns second inaugural sets the seal on these hostilities  invoking \"charity for all\" on the Eve of Five Forks and the Grant-Lee race for Appomattox. Here is the dust and stench of war  a sort of Twilight of the Gods  with occasional lurid flare-ups  mass desertions  and the queasiness that accompanies the risk of being the last man to die.  Then  penultimately. Lee at Appomattox  the one really shining figure in this last act.Daviss flight south from fallen Richmond overlaps Lincolns death from Booths derringer  and his capture at Irwinville comes amid the surrender of the last Confederate armies  east and west of the Mississippi River. The epilogue is Lincoln in his grave: and Davis in his posthumous existence. \"Lucifer in Starlight.\"  So ends a unique achievement -- already recognized as one of the finest histories ever fashioned by an American -- a narrative of over a million and a half words which recreates on a vast and brilliant canvas the events and personalities of an American epic: The Civil War","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44784956440629,"sku":"ByrdShop_0394465121","price":74.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/ByrdShop_0394465121_7707db2a-a6cb-4bc9-8c2b-44dcc5a430fc.jpg?v=1768812699","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-civil-war-a-narrative-red-river-to-appomattox","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}