The Day of the Confederacy: A Chronicle of the Embattled South

Nathaniel Wright StephensonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5

Word count: 266K words
Chapters: 27

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Day of the Confederacy: A Chronicle of the Embattled South by StephensonAuthor: Stephenson, Nathaniel W. (Nathaniel Wright), 1867-1935,Language: English, Class: E456: History: America: Civil War period (1861-1865), Release Date: Jan 1, 2002

Editor's review

This book is an early narrative history of the American Civil War, centering on the Confederate experience and weaving political decisions, military operations, and social hardships into a chronicle-style historical record. The author, Stephenson, lived from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and his writing bears the clear imprint of historical narrative of that era: it emphasizes the unfolding of events and the interplay of figures and circumstances, in a relatively formal prose. For readers who wish to understand the course of the war from a Southern perspective, this book offers an angle of observation distinct from mainstream Union narratives and can be read alongside works on the Lincoln administration and the abolitionist movement to build a more three-dimensional historical understanding. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to search and cite, making it suitable as supplementary material for American history courses or extended reading for history enthusiasts. Note that some of the analyses and wording reflect the historiography of an earlier era; readers should read with a critical eye and need not treat them as contemporary scholarly consensus.

Who it's for

A good fit for

American history enthusiasts, especially those interested in Southern society and politics during the Civil War
University history students seeking supplementary reading from a Southern perspective
English learners interested in nineteenth-century English historical narrative style
Readers studying Civil War memory and early historical writing

Not a good fit for

Professional researchers seeking cutting-edge contemporary scholarship
General readers who prefer light, fast-paced popular history
Readers with limited English reading experience who are unaccustomed to nineteenth-century prose

Reading tips

Read a standard general history of the American Civil War first to establish a timeline before delving into this book's details
Mark the author's era-bound judgments as you read and compare them with contemporary scholarship
Read chapter by chapter alongside maps and timelines to clarify the sequence of battles and political events
If the original English is difficult, read the introduction and conclusion first to grasp the overall framework

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book the work of a contemporary scholar?

No. The author, Stephenson, lived from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and this book is an earlier work of historical narrative reflecting the historiography and writing style of its time. It should be read as a historical text bearing the marks of its era, not as contemporary scholarly consensus.

What level of English is needed to read this book?

This is an original English text from an earlier period, with relatively long sentences and formal diction close to nineteenth-century nonfiction prose. It suits readers with university-level English reading ability and familiarity with historical English expression; beginners may use a dictionary or a parallel translation for support.

How does this book differ from Civil War histories written from the Union perspective?

This book centers on the Confederate war experience, focusing on its political decisions, military situation, and social hardships, with a narrative emphasis different from Union-perspective works. Reading them together helps illuminate how the same war is narrated from different standpoints, but the judgments in this book should not be taken directly as objective conclusions.

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About the author

Nathaniel Wright Stephenson Author · American · 1867–1935

Nathaniel Wright Stephenson (1867–1935) was an American historian and biographer. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he served as professor of history and economics at Charleston College. He devoted much of his writing to the life of Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War, and his principal works include Abraham Lincoln and the Union, The Day of the Confederacy, and the biography Lincoln. Three of his works are included in this collection. Aimed at general readers, his writing is marked by clear narrative and attention to personal motives and the wider context of the era, giving him a representative place in the popular history writing of early twentieth-century America; public information about the details of his life remains limited.