Brooks D. Simpson's Books

The Civil War in the East

Struggle, Stalemate, and Victory

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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The Civil War in the East

Struggle, Stalemate, and Victory

By: Brooks D. Simpson

This book fills a gap in Civil War literature on the strategies employed by the Union and Confederacy in the East, offering a more integrated interpretation of military operations that shows how politics, public perception, geography, and logistics shaped the course of military operations in the East. For all the literature about Civil War military operations and leadership, precious little has been written about strategy, particularly in what has become known as the eastern theater. Yet it is in this theater where the interaction of geography and logistics, politics and public opinion, battlefront and home front, and the conduct of military operations and civil-military relations can be highlighted in sharp relief. With opposing capitals barely 100 miles apart and with the Chesapeake Bay/tidewater area offering Union generals the same sorts of opportunities sought by Confederate leaders in the Shenandoah Valley, geography shaped military operations in fundamental ways: the very rivers that obstructed Union overland advances offered them the chance to outflank Confederate-prepared positions. If the proximity of the enemy capital proved too tempting to pass up, generals on each side were aware that a major mishap could lead to an enemy parade down the streets of their own capital city. Presidents, politicians, and the press peeked over the shoulders of military commanders, some of who were not reluctant to engage in their own intrigues as they promoted their own fortunes. The Civil War in the East does not rest upon new primary sources or an extensive rummaging through the mountains of material already available. Rather, it takes a fresh look at military operations and the assumptions that shaped them, and offers a more integrated interpretation of military operations that shows how politics, public perception, geography, and logistics shaped the course of military operations in the East. The eastern theater was indeed a theater of decision (and indecision), precisely because people believed that it was important. The presence of the capitals raised the stakes of victory and defeat; at a time when people viewed war in terms of decisive battles, the anticipation of victory followed by disappointment and persistent strategic stalemate characterized the course of events in the East.

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Page Count

276

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 13

9798216061342

Gettysburg

A Battlefield Guide

By: Mark Grimsley,Brooks D. Simpson

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Gettysburg

A Battlefield Guide

By: Mark Grimsley,Brooks D. Simpson

Created by scholars who have walked the battlegrounds, consulted with local experts and park guides, and studied the testimony left behind by the participants, this guide is the ultimate guide to Gettysburg. 57 maps, figures & photos.

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Page Count

234

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0803270771

ISBN 13

9780803270770

Victors in Blue

How Union Generals Fought the Confederates, Battled Each Other, and Won the Civil War

By: Albert Castel,Brooks D. Simpson

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Victors in Blue

How Union Generals Fought the Confederates, Battled Each Other, and Won the Civil War

By: Albert Castel,Brooks D. Simpson

Make no mistake, the Confederacy had the will and valor to fight. But the Union had the manpower, the money, the matriel, and, most important, the generals. Although the South had arguably the best commander in the Civil War in Robert E. Lee, the North's full house beat their one-of-a-kind. Flawed individually, the Union's top officers nevertheless proved collectively superior across a diverse array of battlefields and ultimately produced a victory for the Union. Now acclaimed author Albert Castel brings his inimitable style, insight, and wit to a new reconsideration of these generals. With the assistance of Brooks Simpson, another leading light in this field, Castel has produced a remarkable capstone volume to a distinguished career. In it, he reassesses how battles and campaigns forged a decisive Northern victory, reevaluates the generalship of the victors, and lays bare the sometimes vicious rivalries among the Union generals and their effect on the war. From Shiloh to the Shenandoah, Chickamauga to Chattanooga, Castel provides fresh accounts of how the Union commanders--especially Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Meade but also Halleck, Schofield, and Rosecrans--outmaneuvered and outfought their Confederate opponents. He asks of each why he won: Was it through superior skill, strength of arms, enemy blunders, or sheer chance? What were his objectives and how did he realize them? Did he accomplish more or less than could be expected under the circumstances? And if less, what could he have done to achieve more--and why did he not do it? Castel also sheds new light on the war within the war: the intense rivalries in the upper ranks, complicated by the presence in the army of high-ranking non-West Pointers with political wagons attached to the stars on their shoulders. A decade in the writing, Victors in Blue brims with novel, even outrageous interpretations that are sure to stir debate. As certain as the Union achieved victory, it will inform, provoke, and enliven sesquicentennial discussions of the Civil War.

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375

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

0700621415

ISBN 13

9780700621415

The Reconstruction Presidents

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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The Reconstruction Presidents

By: Brooks D. Simpson

During and after the Civil War, four presidents faced the challenge of reuniting the nation and of providing justice for black Americans—and of achieving a balance between those goals. This first book to collectively examine the Reconstruction policies of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Rutherford B. Hayes reveals how they confronted and responded to the complex issues presented during that contested era in American politics. Brooks Simpson examines the policies of each administration in depth and evaluates them in terms of their political, social, and institutional contexts. Simpson explains what was politically possible at a time when federal authority and presidential power were more limited than they are now. He compares these four leaders' handling of similar challenges—such as the retention of political support and the need to build a Southern base for their policies—in different ways and under different circumstances, and he discusses both their use of executive power and the impact of their personal beliefs on their actions. Although historians have disagreed on the extent to which these presidents were committed to helping blacks, Simpson's sharply drawn assessments of presidential performance shows that previous scholars have overemphasized how the personal racial views of each man shaped his approach to Reconstruction. Simpson counters much of the conventional wisdom about these leaders by persuasively demonstrating that considerable constraints to presidential power severely limited their efforts to achieve their ends. The Reconstruction Presidents marks a return to understanding Reconstruction based upon national politics and offers an approach to presidential policy making that emphasizes the environment in which a president governs and the nature of the challenges facing him. By showing that what these four leaders might have accomplished was limited by circumstances not easily altered, it allows us to assess them in the context of their times and better understand an era too often measured by inappropriate standards.

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296

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

0700616888

ISBN 13

9780700616886

Ulysses S. Grant

Triumph over Adversity, 1822–1865

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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Ulysses S. Grant

Triumph over Adversity, 1822–1865

By: Brooks D. Simpson

“The best study of Grant’s military career since Bruce Catton’s two volumes. . . . The best treatment of Union military command and strategy now in print.” —The New Republic Many modern historians have painted Ulysses S. Grant as a butcher, a drunk, and a failure as president. Others have argued the exact opposite and portray him with saintlike levels of ethic and intellect. In Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity 1822–1865, historian Brooks D. Simpson takes neither approach, recognizing Grant as a complex and human figure with human faults, strengths, and motivations. Simpson offers a balanced and complete study of Grant from birth to the end of the Civil War, with particular emphasis on his military career and family life and the struggles he overcame in his unlikely rise from unremarkable beginnings to his later fame as commander of the Union Army. Chosen as a New York Times Notable Book upon its original publication, Ulysses S. Grant is a readable, thoroughly researched portrait that sheds light on this controversial figure. “[An] eminently informed and finely balanced portrait of Ulysses S. Grant as man, husband, failed entrepreneur and shrewd, victorious general. Simpson . . . uses carefully excavated facts and anecdotes to reveal an individual far more complex than the caricature . . . handed down to us by popular history. At the same time, Simpson does not gloss over Grant’s shortcomings. Although a fan of the general’s, Simpson is not in the business of writing apologetics, and therein lies his strength.” —Publishers Weekly “Persuasively explains the complexities and seeming contradictions of his subject’s character and genius.” —Library Journal “Skillfully written. . . . Simpson, who has benefited from decades of Civil War study, wears his wide-ranging scholarship lightly. Guaranteed to enlighten and please.” —Kirkus Reviews “Simpson has done a masterly job. . . . He has given us a detailed and exciting narrative of how one man succeeded, where so many others had failed.” —The New York Times Book Review

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558

Publisher

Quarto Publishing Group USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

1627885463

ISBN 13

9781627885461

Let Us Have Peace

Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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Let Us Have Peace

Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868

By: Brooks D. Simpson

Historians have traditionally drawn distinctions between Ulysses S. Grant's military and political careers. In Let Us Have Peace, Brooks Simpson questions such distinctions and offers a new understanding of this often enigmatic leader. He argues that during the 1860s Grant was both soldier and politician, for military and civil policy were inevitably intertwined during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. According to Simpson, Grant instinctively understood that war was 'politics by other means.' Moreover, he realized that civil wars presented special challenges: reconciliation, not conquest, was the Union's ultimate goal. And in peace, Grant sought to secure what had been won in war, stepping in to assume a more active role in policymaking when the intransigence of white Southerners and the obstructionist behavior of President Andrew Johnson threatened to spoil the fruits of Northern victory.

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360

Publisher

UNC Press Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1469617463

ISBN 13

9781469617466

The Political Education of Henry Adams

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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The Political Education of Henry Adams

By: Brooks D. Simpson

In this lively work of revisionism, Brooks D. Simpson offers a new understanding of Henry Adams's political career, looking beyond the oft-quoted Education of Henry Adams to discover the historian, journalist, and political gadfly as he truly was. In doing so, Simpson challenges portrayals presented by Adams's many biographers and reassesses positions of major historians. He demonstrates the unreliability of The Education as a factual account of post-Civil War American politics, cautions those who represent Adams as a typical political reformer, and discusses why Adams's fervent desire to achieve political success ended in abject failure. Arguing that Adams sought political influence and power, not office, Simpson follows the young republican's struggle to reconcile the dictates of family heritage with his own personal inclinations by carving out a career as a political journalist and behind-the-scenes manipulator of reform politics. But his arrogance and sarcasm, according to Simpson, doomed him to offend the very people he sought to influence and forced him to the margins of the reform movement. Simpson contends that even as Adams wrote about his failure in The Education of Henry Adams, he sought to conceal its true causes behind a facade of witty, derisive remarks about American politics and politicians. In contrast, Simpson places the blame for Adams's failure squarely on Adams himself, concluding that personality rather than politics thwarted his promising career.

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180

Publisher

Univ of South Carolina Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1570030537

ISBN 13

9781570030536

Ulysses S. Grant

Triumph over Adversity, 1822–1865

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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Ulysses S. Grant

Triumph over Adversity, 1822–1865

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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558

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Quarto Publishing Group USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

1627885463

ISBN 13

9781627885461

A History of the Civil War

The Conflict that Defined the United States

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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A History of the Civil War

The Conflict that Defined the United States

By: Brooks D. Simpson

In this account of the bloodiest war fought on American soil, Brooks Simpson recounts the events of the war from the opening salvo at Fort Sumter through the battlefields of Gettysburg and Shiloh to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House. A History of the Civil War brings to life the realities of the war and the people who lived through it. It explains how the politics around slavery led to an unbridgeable divide between North and South and examines the strategies that led to the Union's eventual victory in 1865.

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235

Publisher

Arcturus Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

139882786X

ISBN 13

9781398827868

Let Us Have Peace

Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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Let Us Have Peace

Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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360

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UNC Press Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1469617463

ISBN 13

9781469617466

The Reconstruction Presidents

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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The Reconstruction Presidents

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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296

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

0700616888

ISBN 13

9780700616886

Victors in Blue

How Union Generals Fought the Confederates, Battled Each Other, and Won the Civil War

By: Albert Castel,Brooks D. Simpson

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Victors in Blue

How Union Generals Fought the Confederates, Battled Each Other, and Won the Civil War

By: Albert Castel,Brooks D. Simpson

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Page Count

375

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

0700621415

ISBN 13

9780700621415

The Political Education of Henry Adams

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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The Political Education of Henry Adams

By: Brooks D. Simpson

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

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Page Count

180

Publisher

Univ of South Carolina Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1570030537

ISBN 13

9781570030536

Book's by Brooks D. Simpson

The Civil War in the East

The Civil War in the East

Gettysburg

Gettysburg

Victors in Blue

Victors in Blue

The Reconstruction Presidents

The Reconstruction Presidents

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Let Us Have Peace

Let Us Have Peace

The Political Education of Henry Adams

The Political Education of Henry Adams

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

A History of the Civil War

A History of the Civil War

Let Us Have Peace

Let Us Have Peace

The Reconstruction Presidents

The Reconstruction Presidents

Victors in Blue

Victors in Blue

The Political Education of Henry Adams

The Political Education of Henry Adams

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