Product Description

The author of Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents (100,000 in print) and Secret Lives of the First Ladies (30,000 in print) is back with another bizarre look at history's most celebrated personalities. With Secret Lives of the Civil War, Cormac O'Brien unearths a host of strange, little-known facts about Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and Harriet Tubman. He also introduces lesser-known people who changed the fate of our country people like:
Sarah Edmonds, who disguised herself as a man so she could fight in the Battle of Bull Run (the Civil War had a surprising number of women soldiers).
William Clarke Quantrill, a sociopath who fought in both armies, mostly for the pleasure of shedding blood.
And of course, Officer Ambrose Burnside, whose unique "sideburns" would later influence generations of Elvis Presley fans.

Complete with 30 dazzling portraits and illustrated maps, Secret Lives of the Civil War is a new look at one of the most fascinating chapters in American history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #364368 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
O'Brien's slight but entertaining follow-up to Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents and Secret Lives of the First Ladies is best for those who like their history light. O'Brien profiles 26 figures-13 from each side-who consist mostly of military figures, plus the two Presidents and their first ladies, a few spies and the black leaders Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass; he proves most fascinating in the attendant anecdotes (James Longstreet fighting the Battle of Antietam in his slippers, William T. Sherman's two shipwrecks in a single day). Trivia abounds, including all the nicknames of each subject, astrological signs and characteristic quotes ("The moment a grain of black pepper touches my tongue, I lose all strength in my right leg," said Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a "notorious hypochondriac"). Unfortunately, the Civil War does not easily lend itself to irreverence or overview; O'Brien has no choice but to slog through battle after battle in order to put the details in context, forsaking in large part such topics as slavery, international relations, munitions and life on the home front. If, in fact, your teachers never told you about these secrets, it's probably because they had bigger fish to fry.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Cormac O'Brien is the author of Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents (Quirk, 2004) and Secret Lives of the First Ladies (Quirk, 2005). He lives in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Customer Reviews

The result of meticulous and painstaking research
Nicely enhanced with occasional illustrations by Monika Suteski, "Secret Lives Of The Civil War": What Your Teachers Never Told You About The War Between The States" by Cormac O'Brien is an informed and informative compendium of odd facts, unsung heroes, obscure vignettes, and bizarre anecdotes that are a part of the American Civil War that are not presented in traditional classroom lectures, textbooks, or histories. For example, Mary Todd Lincoln's claim to receive valuable military strategies from ghosts in the spirit world; Jefferson Davis importing camels for Confederate soldiers stationed in the American southwest; Ulysses S. Grant mounted on a horse named 'Kangaroo' during the Vicksburg campaign; James Longstreet fighting in the Battle of Antietam wearing carpet slippers; William Tecumseh Sherman surviving two shipwrecks on the same day; and so many more surprising and unexpected but quite true stories of people and events. Not the least of which is the story of the infamous and feared Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill whose skull was to end up in the basement of a fraternity house from 1905 to 1942. "Secret Lives Of The Civil War" is the result of meticulous and painstaking research, making it an absolute 'must' for personal, academic, and community library Civil War Studies reference shelves and supplemental reading lists.

Civil War Celebs...Warts and All!
Over the past few years, a sub-category of history books has emerged with the goal of presenting a warts-and-all retelling of the historical record. This book, for instance, wants to unveil "what your teachers never told you about the War between the States." The resulting volume is a broad, interesting and informational introduction to some famous Civil War movers and shakers.

The personalities covered in O'Brien's 26 chapters are mostly "the usual suspects" such as 'Father Abraham' and his wife, Grant, McClellan, Burnside, Sherman, Jefferson and Varina Davis, Lee, Jackson, Stuart and others such as Harriet Tubman, William Quantrill, etc. The life of each is covered in 10-12 pages with O'Brien relating their triumphs, tragedies and pecadilloes in a lighthearted, evenhanded fashion.

Dedicated Civil War buffs will be familiar with much of the material appearing in the hefty (300+ pages) little volume. But it only retails for $16.95 so what the heck! Likewise if you're just getting interested in the Civil War, this is a very HUMAN introduction to some people who have since assumed legendary stature.

Recommended.

****
One suggestion: Drop the illustrations and go with period photographs.

Yawn!
There's nothing here I haven't heard before, and most of it seems pretty trivial if not inaccurate. Like, oh wow, Sherman was in two shipwrecks in one day. I writhe on the floor in astonished amazement, interrupted only by my own loud snoring.