The Destructive War

William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans

From the moment the Civil War began, partisans on both sides were calling not just for victory but for extermination. And both sides found leaders who would oblige. In this vivid and fearfully persuasive book, Charles Royster looks at William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson, the men who came to embody the apocalyptic passions of North and South, and re-creates their characters, their strategies, and the feelings they inspired in their countrymen. At once an incisive dual biography, hypnotically engrossing military history, and a cautionary examination of the American penchant for patriotic bloodshed, The Destructive War is a work of enormous power.
List of Illustrations
Preface


1. The Destruction of Columbia

2. The Aggressive War: Jackson

3. The Aggressive War: Sherman

4. The Anomalous War

5. The Death of Stonewall

6. The Vicarious War

7. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

8. The Destructive War
Part I: The Last Year
—Part II: The War and the Future of the Nation


9. The Grand Review
  • WINNER | 1992
    Bancroft Prize
  • WINNER | 1992
    Charles S. Sydnor Award
  • WINNER | 1992
    Lincoln Prize
Charles Royster is a historian, a teacher, and an author. He served as the Boyd Professor of History at Louisiana State University and is the recipient of the Bancoft, Parkman, and Lincoln Prizes. His works include Light-Horse Harry Lee, The Destructive War, and A Revolutionary People at War. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. View titles by Charles Royster

About

From the moment the Civil War began, partisans on both sides were calling not just for victory but for extermination. And both sides found leaders who would oblige. In this vivid and fearfully persuasive book, Charles Royster looks at William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson, the men who came to embody the apocalyptic passions of North and South, and re-creates their characters, their strategies, and the feelings they inspired in their countrymen. At once an incisive dual biography, hypnotically engrossing military history, and a cautionary examination of the American penchant for patriotic bloodshed, The Destructive War is a work of enormous power.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface


1. The Destruction of Columbia

2. The Aggressive War: Jackson

3. The Aggressive War: Sherman

4. The Anomalous War

5. The Death of Stonewall

6. The Vicarious War

7. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

8. The Destructive War
Part I: The Last Year
—Part II: The War and the Future of the Nation


9. The Grand Review

Awards

  • WINNER | 1992
    Bancroft Prize
  • WINNER | 1992
    Charles S. Sydnor Award
  • WINNER | 1992
    Lincoln Prize

Author

Charles Royster is a historian, a teacher, and an author. He served as the Boyd Professor of History at Louisiana State University and is the recipient of the Bancoft, Parkman, and Lincoln Prizes. His works include Light-Horse Harry Lee, The Destructive War, and A Revolutionary People at War. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. View titles by Charles Royster

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