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    Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam
    Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam
    Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam
    Audiobook5 hours

    Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam

    Written by James M. McPherson

    Narrated by Nelson Runger

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed--four times the number lost on D-Day, and twice the number killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks. In Crossroads of Freedom, America's most eminent Civil War historian, James M. McPherson, paints a masterful account of this pivotal battle, the events that led up to it, and its aftermath. As McPherson shows, by September 1862 the survival of the United States was in doubt. The Union had suffered a string of defeats, and Robert E. Lee's army was in Maryland, poised to threaten Washington. The British government was openly talking of recognizing the Confederacy and brokering a peace between North and South. Northern armies and voters were demoralized. And Lincoln had shelved his proposed edict of emancipation months before, waiting for a victory that had not come--that some thought would never come. Both Confederate and Union troops knew the war was at a crossroads, that they were marching toward a decisive battle. It came along the ridges and in the woods and cornfields between Antietam Creek and the Potomac River. Valor, misjudgment, and astonishing coincidence all played a role in the outcome. McPherson vividly describes a day of savage fighting in locales that became forever famous--The Cornfield, the Dunkard Church, the West Woods, and Bloody Lane. Lee's battered army escaped to fight another day, but Antietam was a critical victory for the Union. It restored morale in the North and kept Lincoln's party in control of Congress. It crushed Confederate hopes of British intervention. And it freed Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation Proclamation, which instantly changed the character of the war. McPherson brilliantly weaves these strands of diplomatic, political, and military history into a compact, swift-moving narrative that shows why America's bloodiest day is, indeed, a turning point in our history.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateDec 12, 2003
    ISBN9781436101837
    Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam
    Author

    James M. McPherson

    James M. McPherson taught U.S. history at Princeton University for forty-two years and is author of more than a dozen books on the era of the Civil War. His books have won a Pulitzer Prize and two Lincoln Prizes.

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    Reviews for Crossroads of Freedom

    4.5/5

    12 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      A very simple overview of 1862 up to and including the battle of Antietam. There was nothing truly groundbreaking about this book, and it had a simple thesis that Antietam was the true turning point of the Civil War. The author makes the case that European countries, especially France and England, were very close to recognizing the Confederacy because the war was going so well for the Confederacy in 1862 (among other reasons). The loss at Antietam, while certainly not as bad as it could have been, changed the opinions in Europe that the Confederacy could win the war. I enjoyed this book as a quick overview and look forward to reading more about the period and from this author.
    • 3/5
      An account of this pivotal battle and the impact it had on many aspects of the war at home and abroad. What I particularly like was the author's emphasis on context.
      Read as part of the Making Sense of the Civil War reading and discussion program held at the Bedford NH library.
    • 4/5
      Very informative read on the Battle of Antietam; the events that lead up to it (troop movements, previous battles, McClellan, etc) as well as some of the fallout from the battle (primarily the Emancipation Proclamation, and Britain and France deciding not to recognize the South as an independent country).

      This was a very thorough, but well written piece of a small segment of the history of the Civil War. It had great depth to it, but was also written so as not to be boring, or too pompous, or too much jargon, and it wasn't written as if it believed the reader already had a keen grasp of history, but also didn't treat the reader like an imbecile as well.

      This was just a very well written, fun, historical piece of work. Highly recommend it to anyone willing or wanting to learn more about Antietam; and the Civil War as a whole.
    • 5/5
      I first came across this book at the Antietam battlefield museum bookshop. I'm glad I did. It led me to became a fan of McPherson's historical books.
    • 4/5
      History of the events leading up to Antietam and then Antietam itself in the US Civil War. Reading this led me to discover that, because humanity is a rich tapestry, there is at least one person who has studied the Civil War and not wanted to reach through time to slap George McClellan upside the head. That person, however, is not McPherson, who makes his opinion of McClellan’s dithering quite clear. Very gruesome descriptions of battlefields.