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GtrsRGr8 · 06-17-2015, 03:48 AM

I'm posting this in the "Christian Interest" thread, instead of the "Non-Fiction" thread because of the premise of this book. In this work of revisionist history, the author asserts that the Civil War was caused by evangelicals (Christians). That's right, they are the ones who caused the American Civil War, regardless of what you may have heard or believed before. That is if I understand correctly what I've read in the book description and the editorial reviews on the book's Amazon webpage.

I don't think much of revisionist histories or historians, generally speaking. But, this book is published by a major publisher (Bloomsbury Press), the author is a professor of history at the university level (a regional university), and he has written several books on history, including some on the Civil War. And I'm open-minded. I'm buying the book, and will read what the author has to say. Perhaps I will find out that he's right. We'll see.

The book is marked down to $1.99 right now. That's not a huge percentage drop because the regular digital price ($3.99) is so unusually low.

I would like to mention that the Audible narration for the book is only $3.99, as a Whispersync companion deal. With the ebook being a hefty 641 pages, the narration turns out to be almost 28 hours long--that's a lot of listening for $3.99!

My posting of this book does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of anything in it.

America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation. By David Goldfield. Rated 4.4 stars, from 53 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $20.00; digital list price $3.99; Kindle price now $1.99. Bloomsbury Press, publisher. 641 pages. http://www.amazon.com/America-Aflame...7KRNCB3SRY391K.

Book Description
In this spellbinding new history, David Goldfield offers the first
major new interpretation of the Civil War era since James M. McPherson's
Battle Cry of Freedom. Where past scholars have limned the war
as a triumph of freedom, Goldfield sees it as America's greatest
failure: the result of a breakdown caused by the infusion of evangelical
religion into the public sphere. As the Second GreatAwakening surged
through America, political questions became matters of good and evil to
be fought to the death.

The price of that failure was horrific,
but the carnage accomplished what statesmen could not: It made the
United States one nation and eliminated slavery as a divisive force in
the Union. The victorious North became synonymous with America as a land
of innovation and industrialization, whose teeming cities offered
squalor and opportunity in equal measure. Religion was supplanted by
science and a gospel of progress, and the South was left behind.

Goldfield's panoramic narrative, sweeping from the 1840s to the end of
Reconstruction, is studded with memorable details and luminaries such as
HarrietBeecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman. There are
lesser known yet equally compelling characters, too, including Carl
Schurz-a German immigrant, warhero, and postwar reformer-and Alexander
Stephens, the urbane and intellectual vice president of the Confederacy.
America Aflame is a vivid portrait of the "fiery trial"that transformed the country we live in.

06-17-2015, 03:48 AM	#225
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	This History of the Civil War Argues that Evangelical Christians Caused It. $1.99. I'm posting this in the "Christian Interest" thread, instead of the "Non-Fiction" thread because of the premise of this book. In this work of revisionist history, the author asserts that the Civil War was caused by *evangelicals* (Christians). That's right, they are the ones who caused the American Civil War, regardless of what you may have heard or believed before. That is if I understand correctly what I've read in the book description and the editorial reviews on the book's Amazon webpage. I don't think much of revisionist histories or historians, generally speaking. But, this book is published by a major publisher (Bloomsbury Press), the author is a professor of history at the university level (a regional university), and he has written several books on history, including some on the Civil War. And I'm open-minded. I'm buying the book, and will read what the author has to say. Perhaps I will find out that he's right. We'll see. The book is marked down to $1.99 right now. That's not a huge percentage drop because the regular digital price ($3.99) is so unusually low. I would like to mention that the Audible narration for the book is only $3.99, as a Whispersync companion deal. With the ebook being a hefty 641 pages, the narration turns out to be almost 28 hours long--that's a lot of listening for $3.99! My posting of this book does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of anything in it. America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation. By David Goldfield. Rated 4.4 stars, from 53 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $20.00; digital list price $3.99; Kindle price now $1.99. Bloomsbury Press, publisher. 641 pages. http://www.amazon.com/America-Aflame...7KRNCB3SRY391K. Book Description In this spellbinding new history, David Goldfield offers the first major new interpretation of the Civil War era since James M. McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. Where past scholars have limned the war as a triumph of freedom, Goldfield sees it as America's greatest failure: the result of a breakdown caused by the infusion of evangelical religion into the public sphere. As the Second GreatAwakening surged through America, political questions became matters of good and evil to be fought to the death. The price of that failure was horrific, but the carnage accomplished what statesmen could not: It made the United States one nation and eliminated slavery as a divisive force in the Union. The victorious North became synonymous with America as a land of innovation and industrialization, whose teeming cities offered squalor and opportunity in equal measure. Religion was supplanted by science and a gospel of progress, and the South was left behind. Goldfield's panoramic narrative, sweeping from the 1840s to the end of Reconstruction, is studded with memorable details and luminaries such as HarrietBeecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman. There are lesser known yet equally compelling characters, too, including Carl Schurz-a German immigrant, warhero, and postwar reformer-and Alexander Stephens, the urbane and intellectual vice president of the Confederacy. America Aflame is a vivid portrait of the "fiery trial"that transformed the country we live in. Last edited by GtrsRGr8; 06-18-2015 at 12:19 AM.