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| April 1865: The Month That Saved America (P.S.) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jay Winik
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $3.00
You Save: $12.95 (81%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (197 reviews)
Sales Rank: 21186
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 0060899689
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780060899684
ASIN: 0060899689
Publication Date: August 1, 2006
Release Date: August 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Amazing year of 1865 May 26, 2008
What a book! Until I read this I had no idea what that month meant to the US or the world. Lee chose to surrender so peace could prevail. He did have other choices. He could have hid in the Southern Hills for years like the Taliban has done in Afghanistan, but he cared too much about the stability of his country. I personally think it was the hardest decision he had and the best decision he made, Grant and Lee handled Appomattox with the best diplomacy as was possible. Many do not realize that Appomattox was the only the end of one part of the war a fact the Winik illustrates here well as does that it was a valiant fight to the end. Did I mention it was Palm Sunday?
The Month That Determined Modern America's Destiny April 10, 2008
Altogether, a fine examination of the events of a single month that would forever shape the face of America, and the impeccable judgment used by leaders of the era, both Union and Confederate, in determining America's destiny. To support his argument, Winik uses the unusual - but clever - method of comparing and contrasting the American Civil War with the civil wars of other nations. In these comparisons, it's clear that America's civil war had one of the most fortunate endings.
Winik goes on to examine the state of the nation during April 1865, and considers the possible outcomes that could have arisen during this most critical month. The possibilities are endless. The rebels could have taken to the hills, and reaped terror against the Union for years in an organized guerilla war. Then there was Lincoln's assassination. John Wilkes Booth sought, though he failed, to provoke a Confederate revival and continue the war. Winik lists other outcomes, but he notes the leaders on both sides that made the monumental decisions during April were adamant in unifying the country.
Finally, Winik should be given credit for providing a superb background of the battles, the leaders, and the other events that occurred throughout the civil war that eventually determined the events of April 1865. The reader is given a thorough introduction to Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, U.S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, William Tecumsah Sherman, and John Wilkes Booth just to name a few. The book also provides a wonderful account of Lee's westward retreat from a smoldering Richmond. April 1865 could use better structure, but because of Winik's compelling narrative of the major events and leaders, this book is a worthwhile read. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who has not read much on the Civil War. April 1865 is a great starting point.
What is usually the end of the story is the story... April 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm the kind of person who likes the "story behind the story," and so, I truly enjoyed Jay Winik's April 1865: The Month That Saved America. Winik has produced a well-written, meticulously researched scholarly tome about this critical month in our nation's history.
Inching toward April of 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was painted into a corner without supplies, and most people assumed that they days of the Confederacy were numbered. Abraham Lincoln's great fear was that Lee would disperse his troops into the mountains, shifting the war into a guerilla war which could go on forever. Two things kept this from happening. First, Union General Grant offered to Lee very generous terms of surrender. How this develops can be seen in the amazing correspondence between Grant and Lee in the days leading up to Appomattox. The other is that at age 58, Lee felt himself too old to become a "bushwacker." After the surrender, he encouraged his soldiers to become "good citizens." "By this one momentous decision, he spared the country the divisive guerrilla warfare that surely would have followed, a vile poisonous conflict that would not only have delayed any true national reconciliation for many years to come, but in all probability would have fractured the country for decades into warring military pockets." Once Lee surrendered, the other Confederate generals did so as well (despite the protests of Jefferson Davis).
Even with the surrendering of the Confederate armies, a restored Union was not a given. Terms of reconstruction were not yet fully worked out in 1865. It was unclear as to how the former Confederate states would be governed. Also, how would former slaves be incorporated into the country? What rights would they possess? And then when Lincoln was assassinated, this generous and forgiving president was replaced by the vengeful Andrew Johnson. It truly was a miracle that the United States survived this fateful month.
What makes April 1865 even more fascinating is the in-depth historic background Winik provides as a backdrop for the events during the Civil War. He begins with Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers and their unsuccessful attempts to deal with the slave issue. He also writes of the creation of the Constitution--"did the Constitution create a Union from which no state, once having joined, could escape except by extra-constitutional acts of revolution?" He explains how the succession of presidential powers in the event of a presidential event was never contemplated by our Founding Fathers, and how our government stumbled through the days after the death of William Henry Harrison. And he gives us short course in the history of guerilla warfare. But where Winik really excels is the short but fascinating portraits he provides of the major players including Lincoln, Davis, Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Johnston. He provides careful analysis of their strengths, weaknesses and personalities. For Davis, he writes "His executive management was poor: he never really could decide whether he wanted to be president or secretary of war, and in often seeking to do both, it could be argued he did neither well." I was especially interested in the competition between Lincoln and Davis, Grant and Lee, and Sherman and Joe Johnston. When Lee finally surrendered to Grant, Grant suffered depression "at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause." The relationship between Sherman and Johnston was especially intriguing. "Without ever having laid eyes directly on each other, they more than knew one another, feeling the bonds of battle that ineluctably join soldiers' souls. Interestingly enough, there was also affection there--and real respect."
The story of the month of April in 1865 is usually the end of the story. I'm grateful to Mr. Winik for making this not the end, but the primary story.
An April to remember March 10, 2008
Winik's account of April 1864 could serve as a textbook example of how to write narrative history. He uses the events of the month as a framework within which to draw together the great historical threads that he posits were resolved that fateful month:
--The conception of America as one nation, the transition to "the United States" as a singular, not plural noun.
--The long history of threatened secession from all geographical and political quarters of the country in its brief history, and the locus of patriotic feeling in the states and not the country up to that time. As Winik reminds us, most states had a history, a political existence, and a citizenry who had demonstrated their loyalty well before they were part of the union of states that was seen as a federation of more (Lincoln's great thought) or less (the states rights position) binding power.
--The problem of Presidential succession after the death of a President, a Constitutional gray area that Winik examines to pull out the interesting insight that Chief Justice Salmon Chase also reviewed the Constitution and the slim precedents available to him in the tense hours after Lincoln's death.
--The real risk of the dissolution of the Civil War into a shadow country's guerrilla warfare carried on by the 100,000 Confederate soldiers still under arms even after Lee's surrender. Winik uses his sources and well-written arguments to remove the reader from the perfect hindsight of settled history back to the time when some Confederate politicians (Jefferson Davis among them), journalists, and (surprisingly few) military leaders counseled this very path. He shows how the actions and words of Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and Sherman were directed toward the prevention of this never-ending nightmare, and how Joseph Johnston's willingness to ignore the order of Jefferson Davis to withdraw to Texas to continue the fight as a guerrilla leader may have been the key piece palliative to this waking dream of horror.
Winik writes novelistic narrative to frame the subject and drive the action to a crisis in April 1865, then freeze-frames the present and draws the camera back and away to the broader landscape and scope of his thesis. These flashbacks actually constitute the meat of the book, but Winik never forgets the framework, or the reader's emotional suspension at the point of crisis, so he zooms back into the freeze-frame and completes the action in a way that keeps the reader's mind and emotions fully engaged.
Next, I will read and review Winik's newest narrative The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800, with larger scope and more pages. Look for my review to follow there in about two weeks.
"History" as written by a non-historian December 27, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
_April, 1865_ is well written; the drama, tension and historical weight of the events of that month are all discussed in a riveting fashion. Taken as such, I would give it five stars. However, it also passes itself off as "history," which it really isn't. For this, I would give it three stars. As a result, I am splitting the difference.
The greatest problem I had with the book was its hyperbole. For example, to call Sayler's Creek "the most significant battle of the war" is very much an overstatement. The same goes for his retelling of the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Courthouse - a dramatic moment, to be sure, but the gravitas is overplayed and exaggerated as Winik tells it. Winik also overplays the assassination attempts of Lincoln's cabinet members that night at Ford's theater.
Apparently many Americans are unaware of how uncertain matters were as the Civil War drew to a close - Lee's surrender was by no means the final conclusion of hostilities, as Sherman was still marching north, and there were other groups in the western theater continuing to fight. Continuing a guerilla war, however, was never a serious consideration by any of the Confederate leadership - again, hyperbole by Winik.
However, the confluence and rapid succession of events is great material for a book, and, historical issues aside, Winik does a solid job of presenting them. A final criticism is that I felt not enough context and background was provided. Perhaps I am being more of a stickler than need be regarding the historical claims made by the author, but I struggled with these issues as presented, especially considering they are such seminal events in the nation's history.
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