From the moment the Civil War began, partisans on both sides were calling not just for victory but for extermination. And both sides found leaders who would oblige. In this vivid and fearfully persuasive book, Charles Royster looks at William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson, the men who came to embody the apocalyptic passions of North and South, and re-creates their characters, their strategies, and the feelings they inspired in their countrymen. At once an incisive dual biography, hypnotically engrossing military history, and a cautionary examination of the American penchant for patriotic bloodshed, The Destructive War is a work of enormous power.
Charles Royster is a historian, a teacher, and an author. He served as the Boyd Professor of History at Louisiana State University and is the recipient of the Bancoft, Parkman, and Lincoln Prizes. His works include Light-Horse Harry Lee, The Destructive War, and A Revolutionary People at War. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
View titles by Charles Royster
WINNER
| 1992 Bancroft Prize
WINNER
| 1992 Charles S. Sydnor Award
WINNER
| 1992 Lincoln Prize
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• Barbados
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• Brit.Virgin Is.
• Brunei
• Cayman Islands
• Christmas Islnd
• Cocos Islands
• Cyprus
• Dominica
• Falkland Islnds
• Fiji
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Grenada
• Guernsey
• Guyana
• India
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Jamaica
• Jersey
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Montserrat
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• PapuaNewGuinea
• Pitcairn Islnds
• S. Sandwich Ins
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• Sierra Leone
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• Somalia
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List of Illustrations Preface
1. The Destruction of Columbia
2. The Aggressive War: Jackson
3. The Aggressive War: Sherman
4. The Anomalous War
5. The Death of Stonewall
6. The Vicarious War
7. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
8. The Destructive War —Part I: The Last Year —Part II: The War and the Future of the Nation
9. The Grand Review
"Royster's intriguing analyses fill every page with new information and offer a fresh interpretation of our bloodiest conflict...exhaustively researched, artistically written, brilliantly argued."
-- Boston Globe
"Parts of The Destructive War are as good as anything written...during the last generation...a masterful narrative."
-- Washington Post Book World
"A fascinating history of the ideas held by the people who fought the war...fresh, intriguing, philosophical." -- Detroit Free Press
"An illuminating interpretation." -- Wall Street Journal
From the moment the Civil War began, partisans on both sides were calling not just for victory but for extermination. And both sides found leaders who would oblige. In this vivid and fearfully persuasive book, Charles Royster looks at William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson, the men who came to embody the apocalyptic passions of North and South, and re-creates their characters, their strategies, and the feelings they inspired in their countrymen. At once an incisive dual biography, hypnotically engrossing military history, and a cautionary examination of the American penchant for patriotic bloodshed, The Destructive War is a work of enormous power.
Creators
Charles Royster is a historian, a teacher, and an author. He served as the Boyd Professor of History at Louisiana State University and is the recipient of the Bancoft, Parkman, and Lincoln Prizes. His works include Light-Horse Harry Lee, The Destructive War, and A Revolutionary People at War. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
View titles by Charles Royster
Awards
WINNER
| 1992 Bancroft Prize
WINNER
| 1992 Charles S. Sydnor Award
WINNER
| 1992 Lincoln Prize
Rights
Available for sale exclusive:
• Canada
• Guam
• Minor Outl.Ins.
• North Mariana
• Philippines
• Puerto Rico
• Samoa,American
• US Virgin Is.
• USA
Available for sale non-exclusive:
• Afghanistan
• Aland Islands
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Anguilla
• Antarctica
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Aruba
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahrain
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bonaire, Saba
• Bosnia Herzeg.
• Bouvet Island
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Centr.Afr.Rep.
• Chad
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Comoro Is.
• Congo
• Cook Islands
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Curacao
• Czech Republic
• Dem. Rep. Congo
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• Dominican Rep.
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Gui.
• Eritrea
• Estonia
• Ethiopia
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• France
• Fren.Polynesia
• French Guinea
• Gabon
• Georgia
• Germany
• Greece
• Greenland
• Guadeloupe
• Guatemala
• Guinea Republic
• Guinea-Bissau
• Haiti
• Heard/McDon.Isl
• Honduras
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel
• Italy
• Ivory Coast
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macau
• Macedonia
• Madagascar
• Maldives
• Mali
• Marshall island
• Martinique
• Mauritania
• Mayotte
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Moldavia
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Niue
• Norfolk Island
• North Korea
• Norway
• Oman
• Palau
• Palestinian Ter
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Reunion Island
• Romania
• Russian Fed.
• Rwanda
• Saint Martin
• San Marino
• SaoTome Princip
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Singapore
• Sint Maarten
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• South Korea
• South Sudan
• Spain
• St Barthelemy
• St.Pier,Miquel.
• Sth Terr. Franc
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Svalbard
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Tadschikistan
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• Togo
• Tokelau Islands
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Unit.Arab Emir.
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan
• Vatican City
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Wallis,Futuna
• West Saharan
• Western Samoa
• Yemen
Not available for sale:
• Antigua/Barbuda
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Botswana
• Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter
• Brit.Virgin Is.
• Brunei
• Cayman Islands
• Christmas Islnd
• Cocos Islands
• Cyprus
• Dominica
• Falkland Islnds
• Fiji
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Grenada
• Guernsey
• Guyana
• India
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Jamaica
• Jersey
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Montserrat
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• PapuaNewGuinea
• Pitcairn Islnds
• S. Sandwich Ins
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• South Africa
• Sri Lanka
• St. Helena
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent
• St.Chr.,Nevis
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Tonga
• Trinidad,Tobago
• Turks&Caicos Is
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• United Kingdom
• Vanuatu
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Preface
1. The Destruction of Columbia
2. The Aggressive War: Jackson
3. The Aggressive War: Sherman
4. The Anomalous War
5. The Death of Stonewall
6. The Vicarious War
7. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
8. The Destructive War —Part I: The Last Year —Part II: The War and the Future of the Nation
9. The Grand Review
Praise
"Royster's intriguing analyses fill every page with new information and offer a fresh interpretation of our bloodiest conflict...exhaustively researched, artistically written, brilliantly argued."
-- Boston Globe
"Parts of The Destructive War are as good as anything written...during the last generation...a masterful narrative."
-- Washington Post Book World
"A fascinating history of the ideas held by the people who fought the war...fresh, intriguing, philosophical." -- Detroit Free Press
"An illuminating interpretation." -- Wall Street Journal