Product Description

We have for years needed a serious, scholarly, readable work on the Confederate nation that rounds up modem scholarship and offers a fresh and detached view of the whole subject. This work fills that order admirably ... [Thomas] sensibly and deftly integrates the course of Southern military fortunes with the concerns that shaped them and were shaped by them. In doing so he also manages to convey a sense of how the war itself deteriorated from something spirited and gallant to something base and mean and modern on both sides.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71749 in Books
• Published on: 1981-12-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
"An incisive and insightful account of the Confederacy....As good a short history of the Southern War effort as we have." -- -- T. Harry WilliamsA

Customer Reviews

Excellent book
Although Thomas' book was published in 1979, it is still the best work we have on the Confederacy as a nation. The book is definitely scholarly and academic, but is also highly readable and enjoyable. Although I've read dozens of books about the Civil War, I definitely know more about the Confederacy as a whole now.

Thomas does not delve too deep into discussing battles or even many of the generals (they are discussed of course, but not at great length). He spends most of his time discussing southern nationalism, the overall military fortunes, the attempts at getting recognition from England and France, and how all things Confederate intertwined. He also argues, very well, that the ideals that led to secession and the founding of the Confederacy were almost all lost during the War. He also points out that although radicals had a large hand in founding the Confederacy and Southern states seceding, moderates actually held all the power in the Confederacy.

As stated earlier, the book was written in 1979 so some of the research is dated, but this is still the best effort we have on the Confederacy as a whole. Others have attempted, but Thomas' is still the best. Highly recommended for any Civil War buffs or those interested in Southern history.

A tremendous book on the Civil War!
I can hardly believe that this book has been almost ignored on this site. I have read thousands of Civil War books over decades, and this is one of the top dozen in the list. It is an
outstanding account of the Confederacy, well-written and scholarly. As a bonus, it contain the text of the Confederate
Constitution in an appendix! Buy and read this book!

A compelling summary
First of all, I am surprised no one has bothered to review this book! I used it in a seminar on the American Civil War at the Japanese university where I teach English and history. It was excellent as an introduction to the subject matter it describes. The chapters were not dauntingly long and Thomas's gift for language presented an abundance of ideas and episodes with a striking economy of words. My students, who are not native speakers of English, were very satisfied with the book and had a sense of accomplishment once they got through it. A Japanese language version of Ken Burns's celebrated documentary on the Civil War was helpful in making much of the book understood; but even without that useful aid, Emory Thomas's book offered a gripping narrative of the Confederacy's short and turbulent history. Having read Confederate Nation my students have a firm and intelligent grasp of the single most tumultuous episode of the American experience.