"The Civil War" Volume 2

The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian (Shelby Foote)

First of all, the title needs more colons (I believe it is only tied by Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope: Special Edition in the colon wars).
So what can I say about this book? It's like Volume 1, which is to say, good. And big; It's very big. Good book to squash bugs with. This book covers the middle part of the war, and I guess it's my personal favorite, since it has the swing of the pendulum from south to north, and covers some of the war's biggest events at Vicksburg and Gettysburg.  Also, when I was reading Volume 1, some of the plastic on the cover started peeling up, and I couldn't help but pick at it. That did not happen with this volume. The end.

Grade: A+

"The Civil War" Volume 1

The Civil War: A Narrative - Fort Sumter to Perryville, Vol 1 (Shelby Foote)

It takes a certain amount of something to just flat out name your book "The Civil War", but in this case I have to admit the author has made a strong case to the definitive title. First things first: Even though this is only "Vol 1", this is a huge book, and when not being read, can be used as a weight to straighten out curved Magic card sleeves. At 800 big pages (not counting bibliography!) for a measly (as of this writing) $16 (cheap!), I believe this may be one of the cheapest cents-to-words ratios you can get.
And, of course, it's not just quantity, but also quality. Don't let the size of the books intimidate you - the material inside masterfully condenses and weaves the events of multiple theaters of war into one coherent, enjoyable narrative. I read all three volumes as a teenager, and I'm not saying that to brag, I'm mentioning it to illustrate that the material contained within is never obtuse. The only issue I had was that the book was published in 1958, so you do run across the occasional weird bit of slang, which is honestly more entertaining than anything else. What else can I say? Don't let the size scare you off; You'll want to pick this up if you have even the slightest interest in the subject. Maybe that should have just been the review. Well, there's always Volume 2.

Grade: A+

"America's Great Debate"

America's Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union (Fergus M. Bordewich)

First of all, I'm deducting half a letter grade for the book's title - I realize that this may be unfair and the publisher may have forced this on the author, but I can only grade the book that was presented to me.
Luckily, the rest of the book is pretty good. It's about the 1850 Compromise, which is one of those parts of history I enjoy reading about because they're usually fast-forwarded past. The main characters of the Civil War haven't appeared on stage yet, so you end up with heroes and villains you've probably never heard of - how many people now remember Tom Benton or the villainous Henry Foote? (Well, okay, turns out Benton was in Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage", so I guess a fair number of people remember him. Dang!)
In any case, I enjoyed this book a good deal. Bordewich doesn't waste time trying to justify, excuse, or apologize for anybody, which is a nice change, and even though the eventual outcome of the book described in the struggle is obvious, it's no less enjoyable for that. This is a good book to read as a prequel before a look at the civil war that's just over the horizon when the book finishes, and to that end I've been instructed to re-read the face-crushingly huge "Civil War" by Shelby Foote next, so look forward to that.

Grade: B+ (A- if re-titled)