Brief Summary In this book, Bevin Alexander dug deep into various Civil War battles and instances that really cost the South. If the outcomes of these wars or events were different than the South could of had a better probability …show more content…
Having spent so much time on the Civil War in class, with the simulation, to the Glory movie and just the Unit in general, we really got an in depth look at the war. Then, when I read this book, it added another element and I learned a lot of new things. This book also gave me another whole perspective on the war as a whole. Looking at the Civil War many people think that the whole war was totally one-sided for the Union but this book really brings out the fact that with a few key moves, the South easily could have beat the North and changed history forever. Another thing I liked about this book was the maps and evidence that was brought up. Bevin Alexander really did a great job complimenting his words with images and maps that helped me understand and almost imagine that I there. Alexander would talk about war strategy in this book and I wouldn 't really get it at first but the way he explained I thought was excellent. One final thing about the Civil War and this book is that you can tell it like a story. Alexander really tried to show the errors of the South while telling this book like a story. This book isn’t like our history book. Our history book is really hard to read and is really just facts and information we need to learn. In How the South Could Have Won the Civil War, the history is written like a story, like it should be. It was a book that was really entertaining to read and one that I learned a lot from.
New Information I …show more content…
The way Alexander takes this one point and just expands on it going from battle to battle and pointing the most little details out is amazing. The use of imagery, like I said before is amazing. Another little extra bonus in this book is the talk about how this war wasn’t like any in the past. The new war technology completely changed the game. We mentioned this is class as well but just the impact of the minie ball is something I want to bring up. “By quadrupling the killing zone through which soldiers had to march, the Minie-ball rifle made orthodox methods of battle so costly as almost to guarantee failure, except in cases of overwhelming force. It was the most deadly weapon ever wielded by infantry up to that time. (Page