Why the North Won the Civil War (review)

102 CIVIL WAR HISTORY adían enlistments in the Northern armies, Canadian public opinion as related to the war, and the Confederacy's efforts to embroil the North in war with Britain through her Canadian provinces. Just as America's political and economic institutions owe much to the Civil War, the author demonstrates that the same is true for Canada. By pointing out the necessity for a more adequate system of defense, the Civil War promoted national unity and a period of constitution-making in Canada. With the temporary disruption of American trade, it also stimulated the economic development of Canada. This book is an example of history as it should be written. Mr. Winks writes in a lively style which illuminates all aspects of Canadian-American relations during the Civil War years. The volume reflects more research into newspapers, diaries, private letters, official correspondence, and public speeches than any other this reviewer has had the pleasure to read in quite a while. A unique aspect of the book is its versatility. Students of the Civil War, Canadian history, the British Empire, or Anglo-American relations should read it. The author should be encouraged to continue his work in both Canadian and American history, as historians can learn much about each country by studying them simultaneously. J. Rogers Hollingsworth University of Illinois Why the North Won the Civil War. Edited by David Donald. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1960. Pp. xv, 129. $2.95.) Five perceptive scholars attempt to answer the question implied in this title. Richard N. Current argues that Northern victory was the reward of greater material resources; Norman A. Graebner says that the South fell for want of ability to bring Europe to her support; T. Harry Williams returns to his theme of superior Northern military leadership; David M. Potter weighs the political sagacity of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, and finds Davis wanting; David Donald lays Southern defeat to an excess of what is usually taken to be America's greatest virtue—democracy . In the Preface, editor Donald expresses the hope that these essays will not so much contradict one another as that they will complement one another. The reviewer believes that they fail to do this. Taken separately, each essay is convincing, though many specific refutations come to mind; brought together, the sum of the parts does not equal the whole. If all claims of Southern bungling are true, how account for the striking accomplishments of the Confederacy? In proportion to population and material resources, the Confederacy generated power seldom if ever equalled in modern times. Only if measured by an abstract yardstick of achievement does the Confederacy fall short. The Southern effort must be judged as a whole to be judged fairly; split into isolated compartmentssuch as Military Leadership, and Political Factors—it is easily beaten in Book Reviews103 detail by the massed arguments of critical analysts. Multiplicity of authors and views makes this the easier: it enables each author to support his point upon a premise that denies the thesis of one or more of his colleagues. In arguing that superior Northern military leadership won the war, Mr. Williams tacitly denies that superior Northern numbers and material resources were decisive, which is what Mr. Current has just attempted to prove. In arguing that superior Northern political leadership won the war, Mr. Potter denies that Northern military leadership was superior, which is what Mr. Williams has just attempted to prove. Thus it goes. Editor Donald says also that if these essays do nothing more than demonstrate the complexity of historical causation and the dangers of oversimplification , they will have served their purpose. This they do brilliantly. Mastery of subject, cogency of exposition, and clarity of phrase combine to make this book a valuable addition to the interpretive literature on the Civil War. Charles P. Roland Tulane University Stringfellow of the Fourth. By R. Shepard Brown. (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1960. Pp. 307. $4.00.) Here is an epic worth telling and an epic worth reading. Mr. Brown has written itin such a way that his achievement is reminiscent of John W. Thomason 's Jeb Stuart. The hero is one of those characters...