The Long Road to Antietam

Slotkin has produced an absorbing revisionist history of what could be called the second American Revolution. An absorbing account... Slotkin paints a detailed portrait of the talented but flawed general who helped Lincoln bring about his revolution, if ever so unwillingly... Slotkin's description of the battle is essential to completing his meticulous, maddening portrait of McClellan. -- John Swansburg Slotkin does an excellent job of tracing the strategies used by both sides. Richard Slotkin has added significantly to the literature... Slotkin evokes drama and, where appropriate, dark humor in recalling what became an extraordinary test of civilian authority over the military... Slotkin is an accomplished social historian (and novelist) with a focus on war and race, and he brings all his considerable skills to bear in this book. What makes even his unsurprising conclusions unfold at such a gripping pace is his great gift for narrative. It is as if Carl Sandburg were writing again-but with footnotes-for the author is a master at telling a story, capturing a mood, bringing characters to life, and making substantive and well-documented historical points in the bargain. -- Harold Holzer Slotkin tells a great story and for those interested in battle narratives, I have little doubt that you will enjoy his narration of Antietam... Slotkin does a great job laying out this conflict and how Lincoln managed to rid himself of the McClellan problem, issue the Emancipation Proclamation, and turn the Civil War into a holy war that ended slavery. Notably, Slotkin notes that the alleged international reasons for the Emancipation Proclamation are vastly overrated and it had little to no effect on British or French policy toward the conflict... The Long Road to Antietam will change how I teach the first two years of the war. In my world, that's a pretty high compliment. -- Erik Loomis A remarkable piece of work, an eye-opening double history of a battle and a war. -- Randy Dotinga A riveting, perceptive analysis of the Civil War campaigns of 1862, of the reasoning behind the Emancipation Proclamation and of the complex power struggle between President Abraham Lincoln and the 35-year-old Union Commander of the Army of the Potomac, Gen. George B. McClellan... This is one of the most moving and incisive books on the Civil War that I have ever read. -- Chris Patsilelis Starred review. Historian Slotkin moves from his path-breaking studies of America's cultural mythology of violence to a set piece of real-life carnage in this gripping, multifaceted history of the Civil War's bloodiest day... Grounding military operations in political calculation and personal character, Slotkin gives us perhaps the richest interpretation yet of this epic of regenerative violence. Throughout the book, the author exhibits his vast knowledge of the numerous generals involved in both sides of the conflict. Slotkin's comprehensive descriptions of the battles of 1862 show his deep understanding of the terrain, the difficulties of communication, the impossible logistics and the characters that influenced the outcome. The author deftly exposes his egocentric, messianic tendencies as he purposely prolonged the beginning of the conflict. This is much more than another treatise on the battle itself. Yes, the movements and countermovements on the battlefield are there, but this sprawling book has multi-faceted tentacles which Slotkin, an award winning author and former university professor, skillfully weaves into a cohesive narrative... This is a thought-provoking book which goes well beyond the standard battle narratives and places Antietam in its full context as a significant point of change in U.S. domestic policy, a shift with far-reaching ramifications for the next century. -- Scott Mingus In this engrossing book Richard Slotkin looks beyond that blood-drenched battlefield to explore how President Abraham Lincoln linked victory at Antietam to his decision to free slaves and declare that they could join the Union Army. -- Thomas B. Allen Slotkin thus reminds us that the social violence of civil wars always create the potential for the overthrow of civil authority by a military dictatorship... An arresting account of a particular moment in the war: of a Washington atmosphere 'thick with treason.' -- Stephanie McCurry