For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Civil War > Item 289
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For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter
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by Robin Young
Sales Rank: 455999
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List Price: $21.95
$17.12
At Amazon
on 8-7-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 864 pages
Published by: Basic Books December 18, 2006
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1560258969
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1560258964
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.6 x 2 inches
Weighs: 2 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
If you watched Ken Burns's Civil War documentary, you probably remember the touching narration of a letter Sullivan Ballou, an officer in a Rhode Island regiment, wrote to his wife on the eve of the war's first major conflict. Young tries to tell this couple's story, but is only fitfully successful. Although early sections do shed some light on Sullivan's life before the war, there simply isn't enough information about the Ballous to sustain an 800-plus-page book. Young winds up quoting the famous letter twice in its entirety, and the narrative thread is frequently overwhelmed by her rehashing of the Slavery debate and early days of the Civil War. She also buries the Ballous under pages of historical minutiae detailing everything from rifle-loading techniques to contemporary household advice. A huge chunk in the middle does actually provide an exhaustive account of the Battle of Bull Run, but again, Young so often pulls back for the big picture that it becomes difficult to keep track of Sullivan and his ultimately fatal injuries on the battlefield. There's a moving story about families torn apart by war in here, but finding it is an exercise in frustration. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
Civil War buffs and fans of filmmaker Ken Burns' popular Civil War documentary will welcome this heartfelt biography of the heretofore--anonymous soldier who penned one of history's most poignant love letters. Who was Major Sullivan Ballou, and who was the lady who inspired his eloquent missive? Young answers these and other questions in amazing detail. Utilizing a variety of primary sources, including letters, diaries, speeches, and military reports, she reconstructs the brief life and times of the Rhode Island major who lost his life at the First Battle of Manassas-Bull Run. Prefacing Ballou's story with his famous letter, she manages to do justice to the man, the family he adored, and the cause he willingly sacrificed his life to promote. This absorbing Civil War biography will appeal to both scholars and casual readers. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter (Hardcover)
Historian Young's debut tells the story of Sullivan Ballou, whose moving letter to his wife on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run was an emotional highlight of Ken Burns's PBS documentary about the war. At age 34, Ballou seemed destined for a distinguished political career. A talented lawyer in sympathy with the anti slavery Republican Party, he had already served one term as a state legislator and made an unsuccessful run for statewide office as attorney general. Shortly after the outbreak of war, Ballou volunteered for a three year term of duty defending the Union. With twenty years experience in the state militia, he received a commission as major, third in command of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers. Young follows the course of the regiment's recruitment, training and movement to Washington in the late spring and early summer of 1861, drawing heavily on documents of the time. As the crisis grew, it was soon clear to everyone that the federal army would soon invade Virginia, and the Confederates would resist. On July 21, the armies met along Bull Run, a broad creek near Manassas. Early in the action, Ballou was rallying his troops from horseback when a cannonball struck him. Evacuated to a makeshift hospital in a nearby church, he underwent amputation of a leg as the battle raged. When the beaten Union army withdrew, Ballou, (along with other Union wounded) was taken prisoner. He died a few days later. The vast amount of material about Ballou's times, his career, his death and the fate of his widow slowly accumulates to create a broad canvas of mid-19th century America as well as a searching portrait of a tragic victim of war. An emotionally focused tale enriched by a remarkable level of detail. [citation of starred Kirkus Review 12/15/2005]
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For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter
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Price: $17.12
Updated on 8-7-2008.
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