Battle Cry of Freedom (book)

Battle Cry of Freedom covers two decades, the period from the outbreak of the Mexican–American War to the Civil War's ending at Appomattox. Thus, it examined the Civil War era, not just the war, as it combined the social, military and political events of the period within a single narrative framework. Historian Hugh Brogan, reviewing the book, commends McPherson for initially describing "the republic at midcentury" as "a divided society, certainly, and a violent one, but not one in which so appalling a phenomenon as civil war is likely. So it must have seemed to most Americans at the time. Slowly, slowly the remote possibility became horrible actuality; and Mr. McPherson sees to it that it steals up on his readers in the same way."[1]

A central concern of this work is the multiple interpretations of freedom. In an interview, McPherson claimed: "Both sides in the Civil War professed to be fighting for the same 'freedoms' established by the American Revolution and the Constitution their forefathers fought for in the Revolution—individual freedom, democracy, a republican form of government, majority rule, free elections, etc. For Southerners, the Revolution was a war of secession from the tyranny of the British Empire, just as their war was a war of secession from Yankee tyranny. For Northerners, their fight was to sustain the government established by the Constitution with its guaranties of rights and liberties."[2]

The book was an immediate commercial and critical success, an unexpected achievement for a 900-page narrative. It spent 16 weeks on The New York Times hardcover bestseller list with an additional 12 weeks on the paperback list.[2] Writing for The New York Times, Brogan described it as "...the best one-volume treatment of its subject I have ever come across. It may actually be the best ever published."[1]

• McPherson, James M. (2003) [1988]. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-503863-7.

• For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War
• The Civil War: A Narrative
• Bibliography of Ulysses S. Grant
• Bibliography of the American Civil War

• Quotations related to James M. McPherson at Wikiquote
• Discussion with McPherson on Battle Cry of Freedom, July 10, 2000, C-SPAN
• Presentation by McPherson on the illustrated version of Battle Cry of Freedom, November 3, 2003, C-SPAN