Elizabeth Varon - Longstreet : the confederate general who defied the South

 

I want to start with how astonished I was how much material was in this book that was completely new to me. And I have most of the biographies written about Longstreet in my possession. Most books don’t cover the post war period at all but some of the more modern ones do, but none go into the detail that this book does. So kudo’s for all the research done and the facts uncovered.

The good

Most of the book was devoted to the pre and post war period of Longstreet’s life. I found it an intriguing read. What surprised me most were the detailed accounts of the slaves Longstreet owned before and during the war. Especially as there had been no proof of this before as far as I know. And the fact that Longstreet was an ardent believer in slavery before the war. As well as some speeches and actions during the war. To be honest that part shocked me a little bit.

But it makes his change after the war even bigger. What makes a man who felt at home in a world were slavery was normal and saw nothing wrong with it change to a man who actively worked for equality after the war. Truth he could have done even more about equality. But how many generals in his time North or South could say that they commanded black troops? That they championed black officers. That they attend rallies and endorsed black politicians. He literally stood against his former confederates in battle in New Orleans.  It is a huge turnaround for a man of his background and It cost him a great deal. I know that he did not do it just to help his black fellow human beings, but he did so much more than most people did and it is a fascinated well researched read to see how this came about.

The bad

There were some mistakes in the text which should have been picked up by proofreading. Glaring was the mistake of mixing up McLaws and Law and jumbling it to McLaw, this mistake was made twice in the portion about the war. This slightly diminished a very excellent book.

I also though there was now proof that James was not raised by his uncle Augustus but remained with his own family. This book went with the premis that he did spent years under Augustus’ care and was shaped by him.

I do wonder if they portion about the war should have been left out or expanded. Now it seemed the weakest part of the book because everything had to be dealt with so fast. Yet I understand that for people who are new to the war or Longstreet needed this summary to understand the rest of the book.

Overall a welcome addittion to my bookcase unearthing a lot of new material. And I would recommend it to all civil war buffs.