Stewart Edwards, Ph.D.
History 1301
07 November 2017
1362
Varon, Elizabeth R. Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, 258 pp.
Appomattox begins with an overview of two opposing military leaders and their inner circle adversaries of the Civil War. A northerner from a small town in Point Pleasantville, Ohio known as Lieutenant General U. S. Grant and General Robert Edwards Lee a southerner born on a plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Within the book the author gives a brief history of the battle, deceptions and movements of both Confederate and Union armies prior to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. After this brief history, she gives a detailed account …show more content…
One of the elements the author focuses on is the political issues concerning slavery, and the strong beliefs each side held during the war. Such as the numerous men who played a vast role with their own sense an understanding of the consequences of war. The author covers the battles of the civil war, people and the events that led up to the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and his army. From the beginning in which Lieutenant General U.S. Grants main object is to prevent General Robert E. Lee from joining forces with the Confederate army of Joseph Johnston. She also tells of circumstances that General Robert E. Lee faced during the war of Sailor’s Creek, with the capture of his oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee. Which in turn lead to communication being opened from Lee to Grant about a possible surrender and the terms that would come …show more content…
Then goes on to explain in detail what became of the war and people involved. The book is a great benefit to the history aspect because it ties in key battles, people and places involved in the civil wars history. Appomattox has made me question the way history was taught to me as a child in middle school. What are we teaching our children if so much of history is hidden or not the truth? I have started to think about how so much of the past has affected our immediate future. Why are wars started, for political gain, to hide corruption of the leaders who are elected to serve and