The Cause Lost: Myths and Realities of the Confederacy

By William C. Davis

Book Overview

For nearly a quarter of a century, Pulitzer Prize nominee William C. Davis has been one of our best writers on the Civil War. His books--including Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol; Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour; and "A Government of Our Own" The Making of the Confederacy--have garnered numerous awards and enlightened and entertained an avid readership. The Cause Lost extends that tradition of excellence with provocative new insights into the myths and realities of an endlessly fascinating subject.

In these pages, Davis brings into sharp focus the facts and fictions of the South's victories and defeats, its tenacious struggle to legitimize its cause and defeat an overpowering enemy, and its ultimate loss of will. He debunks long-standing legends, offers irrefutable evidence explaining Confederate actions, and contemplates the idealism, naivet , folly, and courage of the military leadership and would-be founding fathers.

Among the most misunderstood, Davis contends, was Jefferson Davis. Often branded as enigmatic and incompetent, the Confederate president was simply a decent and committed leader whose mistakes were magnified by the war's extraordinary demands. Davis scrutinizes Jefferson Davis' relationship with his generals-most of whom were unproved talents or cronies with proven deficiencies-and reveals why only Robert E. Lee succeeded in winning Davis' confidence through flattery, persuasion, and a sense of responsibility. He also examines the myths and memories of the nearly deified Stonewall Jackson and John C. Breckinridge, the only effective Confederate secretary of war.

Davis also illustrates why the cause of the war--a subject of long-standing controversy--boils down to the single issue of slavery; why Southerners, ninety percent of whom didn't own slaves, were willing to join in the battle to defend their homeland; how the personalities, tactics, and styles of the armies in the turbulent West differed greatly from those in the East; what real or perceived turning points influenced Southern decision making; and how mythology and misinterpretations have been perpetuated through biography, history, literature, and film.

Revealing the Confederacy's myths for what they really are, Davis nevertheless illustrates how much those myths inform our understanding of the Civil War and its place in Southern and American culture.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0700612548
• ISBN13: 9780700612543
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Destroying the Lost Cause myths

William C. Davis, famous and rather prolific Civil War historians, faces the myths that constitute the Lost Cause doctrine and destroys a lot of them. The book is a collection of articles published previously on several reviews: they analize the relationships between Jefferson Davis and his generals, the forgotten fronts of war (South Carolina, Trans-Mississippi), and -last but not least- the southern attempts to find explanations to the defeat. The second half of the book is the better. The chapters devoted to the "forgotten fronts" are pheraphs too short and generic. However a very intriguing book.

Excellent Thoughts on Civil War Basics, Mainly Confederate

William C. (Jack) Davis is a prolific author on the Civil War whose books (and talks) are both extremely well-researched and entertaining. He would be on anyone's short list of the best Civil War historians, and is the History Book Club's reviewer for new Civil War books. His books specialize on the Confederate side of the recent unpleasantness between the states. Like his other books, this one is well worth reading for his illuminating insight into topics such as the relationship of Jefferson Davis to his generals, especially Lee, Johnston, Beauregard, Jackson, and Breckinridge; the Confederate secret service and the 1864 U.S. presidential election; and the reasons behind the development of the post-Confederate philosophy known as the Lost Cause. Only one chapter deals with the lost cause--for a detailed book on the lost cause, read Gary Gallagher and Alan Nolan's "The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History." But Davis's Cause Lost is a must read for anyone interested in the Civil War.

Superb quick read of War Between the States

This book should be read by anyone wishing to learn all they can about the "War Between the States" in 204 pages. Davis is very readable as usual as an author with a southern tint. I especially loved the chapter on "Stonewall". Davis ties the chapters together at the end with a modern day perspective on the late war. As a dedicated reader of this period of American history, I would surely add this to my collection.