April 1865

I think one of the reasons some people find history boring is how it was taught to them.  In an effort to fit everything in during the school year you’re whipped quickly through events, going from Columbus sailing the ocean blue to Neil Armstrong taking a small step for mankind in a span of weeks.  At that pace you’re just memorizing names and dates to get through tests and dreaming of summer vacation.  You never get the full story of what happened and gloss over most of the interesting facts.  That’s why every now and again I enjoy reading a book on history that just focuses on one topic in detail.  My latest read, Jay Winik’s April 1865: The Month That Saved America, is one of those books.  It doesn’t go through the whole war but instead (as the subtitle suggests) focuses on the last month of the war – April, 1865.  And what an important month it was, with fierce fighting between the Union and Confederate armies, the surrender at Appomattox, the assassination of President Lincoln, and the beginning of reconstruction.

While he doesn’t spend much time on the causes of the war or any of the major battles over the course of the war (which is a good thing), Winik writes in detail about the background of many of the major players, including Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, and Jefferson Davis.  And of course he spends most of the book discussing the events of that fateful month.  What I like about a book like this is how much detail the author goes into, well beyond what is commonly learned about the subject.  It’s not simply, “Slavery caused the Civil War.  Eventually Lee surrendered to Grant.  The end.”  Winik explores all the gray area, describing the motivation, fear, and bravery on both sides of the fighting.  The south isn’t simply the “bad guy” in this story, it’s much more complicated than that.  It’s a story of a whole country struggling to survive during a difficult time.  I even learned quite a bit, which resulted in me trying to impart my newfound wisdom on Mrs.  Of course she reminded me that not only had she seen the Ken Burns Civil War documentary (oh), but she was also raised by her Civil War buff father (I see), so trying to impress her with the revelation that Robert E. Lee was offered the post of general of the Union army before he became a Confederate general didn’t work, she already knew everything (well then).  Anyway, at least I gained some knowledge.

This is not a critique of the book, but rather something I found amusing.  On the cover it’s described as a “Civil War Saga”, and I think the reason is because Winik adds a lot of detail to describe the various scenes of battle, surrender and political meetings that obviously aren’t historical, but rather an example of him taking some author’s liberty.  He’s setting the scene, such as describing Lee’s facial expressions as he surrenders to Grant, or quoting Lincoln in a private conversation with his wife.  I mean, there’s no way to know how the sun looked in the sky or how the horses smelled or which direction Grant spit in, but I get that it makes for better writing.  It just made me laugh a couple of times.  April 1865 is well worth recommending if you’re looking for a book about a really interesting period in American history.

Next up:  The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman