Rating: 
Summary: The final Civil War memoirs from Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Review: "The Passing of the Armies" was the final memoirs authored by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, published a year after his death in 1914. Having dealt with the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Petersburg in earlier volumes, Chamberlain recounts the final days of the Fifth Army Corps of the Army of Potomac from March 1865 through the end of the Civil War. Consequently, this book contains Chamberlain's account of the emotional moment when he was in charge of the formal surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Because of Michael Shaara's Pulitizer Prize winning novel "The Killer Angels," the companion volumes on the Civil War by his son Jeff, and the film "Gettysburg," Chamberlain has become the idealized citizen-soldier of the Civil War, which means we are assured that his books will be kept in print.Chamberlain's writing style is a bit different in this book from his earlier efforts, due no doubt to the fact that half a century had passed since the events he is covering, he was apparently in the process of dying while writing the book, and he never had an opportunity to revise the manuscript, a task which was left to his family. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are inconsistencies with this book from accounts he wrote earlier. Certainly Chamberlain comes across as more emotional in his reminiscences than he did in "Bayonet! Forward!" or "Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg." Reading Chamberlain's books in terms of the chronology of the events they cover is a good approach and I would certainly recommend reading his memoirs before moving on to the biographies currently available.
Rating:
Summary: The final Civil War memoirs from Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Review: "The Passing of the Armies" was the final memoirs authored by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, published a year after his death in 1914. Having dealt with the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Petersburg in earlier volumes, Chamberlain recounts the final days of the Fifth Army Corps of the Army of Potomac from March 1865 through the end of the Civil War. Consequently, this book contains Chamberlain's account of the emotional moment when he was in charge of the formal surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Because of Michael Shaara's Pulitizer Prize winning novel "The Killer Angels," the companion volumes on the Civil War by his son Jeff, and the film "Gettysburg," Chamberlain has become the idealized citizen-soldier of the Civil War, which means we are assured that his books will be kept in print. Chamberlain's writing style is a bit different in this book from his earlier efforts, due no doubt to the fact that half a century had passed since the events he is covering, he was apparently in the process of dying while writing the book, and he never had an opportunity to revise the manuscript, a task which was left to his family. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are inconsistencies with this book from accounts he wrote earlier. Certainly Chamberlain comes across as more emotional in his reminiscences than he did in "Bayonet! Forward!" or "Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg." Reading Chamberlain's books in terms of the chronology of the events they cover is a good approach and I would certainly recommend reading his memoirs before moving on to the biographies currently available.
Rating: 
Summary: Very well written and informative
Review: For any student of the Civil War north or south this is a must read! It is well written and informative. And to top it all off it was written by a person who was there. This is not a second hand account.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for those who liked Shaara's books
Review: For those of you who wanted to know more about Chamberlin after reading Killer Angels, Last Full Measure, and Gods & Generals you will be disappointed. It reads very dryly vs. the story-like read of Shaara's books. He might be a brilliant man, but his writing style is dry and slow.
Rating: 
Summary: The Passing Of The Armies
Review: I had always wanted to read this book to discern what took place during the Confederate surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Needless to say, I wasted my money. Chamberlain, who richly deserves accolades for bravery during the Civil War shows how not to write a book. This volume is one of the most sophmoric, self effacing volumes ever perpetuated on the reading public. If Chamberlain was paid by the metaphor, he would be wealthier than Bill Gates! When all is said and done, the facts mentioned in this book take no more than 20 pages. Where some Civil War historians call Chamberlain's writing "sublime" and "melodious," I call "boring" and "mindless." How bad is this book? Of the approximately 40 books on the Civil War read, it is the ONLY one I threw away.
Rating:
Summary: A deeply moving experience - a real insight
Review: It was after being shown the film "Gettysburg" in August 1997 I first heard of Joshua Lawrence Chamnberlain and the 20 Maine. I found the film very moving, and the serious, very human and very sensitive character of Chamberlain (played by Jeff Daniels) a very appealing figure - a true leader, a man who could inspire the best from others, a man of courage and integrity. I wanted to find out more, to discover the real Joshua Chamberlain. To my delight, I found he had written a personal account of his life with the Army of the Potomac. Unbelievably - "The Passing of the Armies" was now available in the UK. I was overwhelmed by this book, a poem in prose, a beautiful command of language and emotion, sensitive and deeply felt. It helped me understand a little of what the American Civil War did mean and how men could endure such agony and danger. The book is an incredibly personal account of the last days before Appomattox, followed by a almost mystical account of the last review of the battered but triumphant Army of the Potomac. The language is very romantic, very foreign to twentieth century ears, but Joshua Chamberlain was there, he risked everything, valued people, he saw the deaths and felt the loss. Wounded six times, he was once given up for dead after being shot through both hips by a musket ball while leading a charge at Petersburg in 1864. He was a good man, an inspiring man, with a wonderful self-deprecating humour, as shown when he describes falling in a muddy river along with his horse. Raymond Chandler wrote a line for his creation Philip Marlowe which I feel is very appropriate for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - "If there were enough like him, the world would be a very safe place to live in, and yet not too dull to be worth living in." I went on to read "In the Hands of Providence" by Alice Rains Trulock, the latest biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain which I would recommend to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A deeply moving experience - a real insight
Review: It was after being shown the film "Gettysburg" in August 1997 I first heard of Joshua Lawrence Chamnberlain and the 20 Maine. I found the film very moving, and the serious, very human and very sensitive character of Chamberlain (played by Jeff Daniels) a very appealing figure - a true leader, a man who could inspire the best from others, a man of courage and integrity. I wanted to find out more, to discover the real Joshua Chamberlain. To my delight, I found he had written a personal account of his life with the Army of the Potomac. Unbelievably - "The Passing of the Armies" was now available in the UK. I was overwhelmed by this book, a poem in prose, a beautiful command of language and emotion, sensitive and deeply felt. It helped me understand a little of what the American Civil War did mean and how men could endure such agony and danger. The book is an incredibly personal account of the last days before Appomattox, followed by a almost mystical account of the last review of the battered but triumphant Army of the Potomac. The language is very romantic, very foreign to twentieth century ears, but Joshua Chamberlain was there, he risked everything, valued people, he saw the deaths and felt the loss. Wounded six times, he was once given up for dead after being shot through both hips by a musket ball while leading a charge at Petersburg in 1864. He was a good man, an inspiring man, with a wonderful self-deprecating humour, as shown when he describes falling in a muddy river along with his horse. Raymond Chandler wrote a line for his creation Philip Marlowe which I feel is very appropriate for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - "If there were enough like him, the world would be a very safe place to live in, and yet not too dull to be worth living in." I went on to read "In the Hands of Providence" by Alice Rains Trulock, the latest biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain which I would recommend to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating View Inside the Closing Days of the War
Review: Joshua Chamberlain is probably the most famous 'minor figure' of the American Civil War. While history has remembered an amazing number of Civil War generals (quick, name three generals from America's Revolutionary War), Chamberlain never rose to a position high enough to be generally considered important. Except, that is, for his amazing work on July 2, 1863, when his regiment, the 20th Maine, held the left flank of the Union army against repeated Confederate attacks, culminating with a bayonet charge when the regiment ran out of ammunition. For his actions on that day, Chamberlain received the Medal of Honor.
But while Chamberlain's heroism at Gettysburg was amazing and vitally important to the survival of the United States of America, they were hardly the only important actions Chamberlain took during the war. Chamberlain would go on after Gettysburg to be wounded six times, twice declared dead in The New York Times, and rise to the rank of Brevet Major General and division commander. During his time with the Army of the Potomac, Chamberlain had a front row view of the battles that ended the American Civil War, and he was on the field at Appomattox when Robert E. Lee finally accepted the inevitable and asked Grant for terms of surrender. Chamberlain was then selected to accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Given those exploits, Chamberlain had quite a bit to report on, and in The Passing of the Armies he offers his views on the final campaign of the war and the disbanding of the Army of the Potomac. Chamberlain's writing is fascinating, although the style is appropriate to the 19th century and can appear a bit cumbersome to the modern reader. It is nonetheless a gripping read as the reader travels with Chamberlain across the last battlefields of the American Civil War, feeling the excitement and horror of the first industrial war in history. Chamberlain's perspective was at once close enough to feel the heat of the battle yet removed enough that he is able to describe the larger picture relative to the battlefield. All the book is really missing is a few better maps; it can be difficult to follow the battles given the limited maps included in the book. But that is a minor point, and the reader will be caught up in the battles even if unable to place them on a map.
Despite all the excellent books written on the Civil War, only those who actually experienced the war can provide a feeling for what it was like to survive the battles. Joshua Chamberlain's memoirs give the reader an opportunity to actually get inside the head of a true American hero. As such, they are invaluable reading for anyone interested in the American Civil War, war in general, or leadership.
Rating:
Summary: A well written account of the final days
Review: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's book is a well written, detailed account of the final days of the Civil War. (As it should be - he was a Rhetoric Professor at Bowdoin College.) The book is not for those with a desire to read a more action packed or anecdotal view of the Civil War. It is intended to be a historically accurate and detailed account of what happened during the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Historical facts
Review: Obviously this is different from Shaara's works beacuse this is historical non-fiction and reads more like history vs. Shaara's excellent historical fiction novel which is more like a story then this memoir of civil war hero Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain. If your looking for a novel like Shaara's I wouldn't reccomend this book but if you are looking for facts and more about Chamberlain then I strongly reccomend this novel for you.
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