This latest in Wheeler's long line of Civil War and WW II ``eyewitness histories'' (On Fields of Fury, 1991, etc.) follows the Union and Confederate forces in the East between September 1862 and May 1863, a time during which Robert E. Lee became renowned as one of the most brilliant commanders ever produced by America. ``Heroes of many defeats, we are not inclined to give gratuitous confidence to anyone,'' wrote a captain in the Federal Army of the Potomac to his mother. His pessimism was warranted: In just the nine-month period covered by this account, inept commanders squandered Union advantages in troop strength time and again, bringing Southern morale to its crest and Northern spirit to its low ebb. At Antietam, George McClellan frittered away the chance of a lifetime—an intercepted order of Lee's—and had to accept a draw in the bloodiest day of the war; at Fredericksburg, Ambrose Burnside hurled his forces repeatedly against impregnable enemy positions in a stupid, needless sacrifice; and at Chancellorsville, boastful Joseph Hooker, after executing a daring maneuver, inexplicably lost his nerve when Lee and Stonewall Jackson countered with their own tactical masterpiece. Wheeler never leaves his own authorial thumbprint on this self-effacing narrative but, once again, he has combed through memoirs, diaries, and letters to convey the impact of war on officers and enlisted men. Some scenes are extraordinarily vivid or moving: Confederate General John Gordon, wounded five times at Antietam before being carried off; Union soldiers dodging a hail of bullets at Fredericksburg just for a plug of tobacco; a Union officer putting a hopelessly wounded soldier out of his misery, only to be instantly killed himself; and Stonewall Jackson's lingering death after being wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorsville. An important chapter in the Civil War, seen through the participants' own graphic and powerful testimony. (Twenty-five maps and 108 b&w illustrations—not seen.)
Pub Date: June 6, 1992
ISBN: 0-06-016650-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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