General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: ...and then a man rode through the lines bearing a white flag. [View all]malthaussen
(17,195 posts)circa 1962, the neighbors visited us with an interesting game called "Gettysburg," published by Avalon Hill, which started for me a lifelong obsession with wargames, and consequently military history. Catton's Army of the Potomac had just been re-released by Doubleday, and it was one of the first history books I'd ever read. (In my somwhat-jaded opinion, more romance than history; but that applies to a lot of books about the Civil War) Great introduction to history, as Catton was a good writer. The volumes of AoP have a coherent thematic structure as well, which I have come to appreciate greatly since those far-off years.
It's interesting to juxtapose Army of the Potomac with Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants. Without going into a long rant about it, the thing that strikes me the most is how Freeman was writing about (and glorifying) individuals, whereas Catton was more interested in the institution of the Army itself. I wonder how much their different approaches were influenced by different regional attitudes towards the war.
-- Mal