SHILOH: THE BATTLE THAT CHANGED THE CIVIL WAR

Rating:
Summary: Sort of Interesting
Review: A book telling of the battle from the Confederate side. Some bits of it are interesting, for instance it dispels the myth that there was a wide disparity in the quality of the armaments of the two sides.

However the focus on the confederate operations to the exclusion of those of the northern army makes it difficult to understand the total action. The author also continually refers to Beauregard as the "Creole" rather than by his name. This is somewhat bizarre. Still easy enought to read but not one of the life changing my god I now understand it all books.

Rating:
Summary: Well Done
Review: Although sometimes difficult to read, this is a is a well written, researched and documented analysis of the Battle of Shiloh. The first of the Civil War's major battles, the 23,000 Union and Confederate casualties that were experienced in 2 days of fighting at this Northern Mississippi, Tennessee River crossing were more than all the casualties incurred in all of America's previous wars combined. North and South did not clash here, they bludgeoned each other.

Long the subject of controversy, Shiloh's participants and contemporaries left a legacy of acrimonious discussion and creative revisionism that continues today. Larry Daniel's book goes a long way to getting this signal Civil War battle back to its proper perspective. Within two months of this defeat, the South lost 15,000 square miles of its Nation, including Memphis, Tennessee, all of the upper Mississippi River forts from Columbus, Kentucky to just above Vicksburg, Mississippi and, eventually, New Orleans, Louisiana, the Souths' largest city and one of its finest ports.

This is a step by step analysis of the uncertainty, blunders and lack of tactics as well as the fortitude, bravery and selflessness displayed by both sides. Many real heroes were born here. Many armchair and political heroes were defrocked. It was a true blood bath in the worst sense of the concept, setting the stage for Antietam, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and all the horrors that came after. It defined the antagonists' resolve and defined each sector's devotion to its cause: The South's completely focused commitment to their definition of freedom and the North's completely focused dedication to their definition of Union.

Rating:
Summary: Best Account of Shiloh
Review: Daniel takes the reader into the battle, relating minor incidents, quoting company-grade officers and enlisted men and talking about the movements of artillery batteries and infantry companies. He doesn't neglect the generals and politicians, but the lesser luminaries breathe life into his story. The heroes who emerge in Shiloh are the small-unit commanders.

The book is thoroughly researched and annotated, with statistics in an appendix and excellent references. It contains detailed chapter notes and a marvelous bibliography. Daniel's battle maps are well-rendered and easy to understand at a glance.
Shiloh is an excellent read for someone with more than a cursory interest in the Civil War. Some reviewers indicated they liked the book but thought parts were confusing. I found it very easy to read and understand and it avaided too much of the tactical detail (who is on the right of who) which I find confusing in many very highly praised classic works.
Most of the professional reviews of this book, civil waruffs and book reviewers, that I have seen highly praise this book.

Rating:
Summary: A new account of a famous battle
Review: Daniel's book points out that Shiloh was the first horrific battle of the Civil War. Up until the battle, the encounters had been gentlemanly encounters. Shiloh introduced the blood bath. AS part of his thesis, he points out that this was a must win battle for the Confederacy and led to control of the Mississippi lifeline by the North. A fascinting account and a welcome addition to Civil War history.

Rating:
Summary: Informative
Review: I read the book and visited the battlefield. Daniel described the battle and the implications competently. Who cares if he referred to Beauregard as the "Creole"? I knew who he was talking about. Besides it is easier to type. Maybe he should have referred to Grant as "The Drunk" to make it more balanced.

Rating:
Summary: Confusing but worthwhile
Review: Larry Daniel's "Shiloh", one of three modern books about the battle that jarred the nation with its unprecedented horror and set the stage for the elevated bloodshed of the next three years, is a worthwhile though flawed book, attractively presented but occasionally clear as mud. Of the other works, I've read Wiley Sword's "Shiloh: Bloody April" and though it, too, is flawed, I consider it the better book. Daniel's "Shiloh", though generally well-written, suffers from a lack of clarity, particularly in the stage-setting moves of the armies and in the battle itself. Daniel's approach is to present short sections of a few pages from different locations -- portions of the battlefield or Union or Confederate seats of power, and flit back and forth geographically and chronologically. It is an interesting approach and it often works. But too often it leaves the "big picture" lacking and I was confused by the troop movements even though I'd read Sword's book. Daniel would have served his readers better with updates of how things were going ("while this was happening, that was happening elsewhere on the battlefield"). The first 100 pages are, frankly, dull. If you stick with it when the battle starts, it perks up considerably; I'm glad I stuck with it. So, worth reading, but Daniel's inability to present a clearer picture of the battle keeps this from being a must-have.

Rating:
Summary: VERY READABLE HISTORY OF A CRUCIAL CIVIL
Review: Shiloh : The Battle That Changed the Civil War by Larry J. Daniel is a fine history of the first bloody battle of the Civil War. While much of the book follows the troop movements that occurred during the two day battle, the strength of the book is when Daniel moves away from the specifics of the battle and deals with the personalties involved as well as its cause and effect.

The book is well written, although it is difficult to follow much of the discussion concerning specific troop movements and the maps are not that helpful. However, that does not detract from the fine descriptions of the major players and their strengths and weaknesses. While Daniel is justifiedly critical of all of the major players, he is perhaps too forgiving of Sherman's role in allowing the surprise attack to occur.

Daniel goes to lengths to describe how Grant manipulated the situation to ensure that Sherman would be the senior Division Commander present at Pittsburg Landing, but then does not sufficiently discus his failure to have the troops entrench. It was that failure that allowed the Confederate surprise attack to almost succeed.

The above failure aside this was a very readable history of a crucial Civil War battle.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, but not the best...
Review: Shiloh was a vital battle in the Civil War. It took place just months after the Confederate disaster at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and was a sorely needed victory for a Western Confederacy that was reeling in defeat. The Confederates lost, however, in the process losing Corinth, Memphis, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, Fort Randolph, and Fort Harris. This battle would become a springboard to future Federal moves in the western theatre.

Mr. Daniel does the battle, and its warriors, justification in this book. The maps were first-rate, and were very plentiful. Also in this book, I loved how Mr. Daniel divided the battle into sections, titling each section according to where on the battlefield it was and at what time of the day the action in the section took place. Shiloh is a very confusing battle, but I think Mr. Daniel's decision to structure his text in this manner helped avoid a lot of confusion, especially for beginners to the battle. Mr. Daniel's writing was great, also.

Now for the bad. I believe, as a previous reviewer stated, that Mr. Daniel went too easy on General Sherman for his negligence prior to the opening of the battle. Sherman, though not alone to be blamed, was very responsible for the near destruction of the Union army at Shiloh.

I prefer Mr. Sword's volume on the Battle of Shiloh over this one, but this book is still very much worth the money and the time spent reading it. I would recommend it to any Civil War buff, as Shiloh was one of the most important battles of the war.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive History, Good Story
Review: The author is able to give a great amount of detail about the battle and still tell a good story at the same time. It makes it an enjoyable and informative read.

He goes out of his way to discuss controversy that has arisen over the years and toss his own opinion into the mix.

Rating:
Summary: Best Account of Shiloh
Review: This is one of the best Civil War books I've read in a while. I visited the battlefield for the first time shortly after reading this, and the book gave me a great sense of the lay of the land and movements of the armies. Daniel does a great job of putting the battle into the political context of April 1862, and then goes on to provide an excellent military history of the battle. It would be a 5-star book if he had returned at the end to discuss its ramifications to a greater degree.