PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
James McPherson is Professor Emeritus of American History at Princeton University. Battle Cry of Freedom won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 2003.
Using as pivots the notions of slavery and freedom, and each term's various interpretations, McPherson gives a lucid and compelling account of the war that claimed more American lives than all its subsequent conflicts combined, including two world wars. He uses a dazzling narratorial style to interweave symbiotic themes of economics, politics, military history and diplomacy; important events were often taking place simultaneously, at once disparate and yet mutually influential. This level of complexity has led past historians to write tomes on the subject, yet McPherson manages to pack it all into one of ten books which together make up the Oxford History of the United States. A definitive guide to the American Civil War and its impact on American consciousness. (Kirkus UK)
