The American Civil War
Through this series of lectures Professor Gallagher provides a thorough analysis of the Civil War. This is an even-handed view of the war that depicts the views of the North and those of the South as well as how those views changed over time. Professor Gallagher deftly points out critical events and details from both sides. At the same time he debunks various myths about the war and carefully points out the truth.
Professor Gallagher teaches at Penn State and the University of Virginia and is considered one of the foremost authorities on the Civil War. Of particular interest is the way that he examines the issues. Instead of just examining the various conflicts he discusses the causes of the war, the leaders of both sides, the strategy in the macro environment and in particular battles, the consequences of the war and of particular battles, and opportunities gained and lost. In short, he leaves no stone unturned in bringing a complete understanding of the war to the listener.
Although it is an excellent course I did have one complaint about the course. There was a tendency for Gallagher’s voice to occasionally lower to the point of hardly being audible. For those of you who have had the pleasure of listening to a college lecturer speak from a podium with a microphone I’m sure you will remember straining to hear the words as they looked down at their notes and turned their mouth away from the microphone. While that may not be what happened in these lectures, it is the same effect. In order to hear everything I had to play the lectures louder than normal. The Teaching Company has advised me that they are redoing many of their courses for better quality sound and I assume this is one of the things that they will address. Even with that minor flaw, from beginning to end it is a fascinating and complete analysis of the Civil War and a highly recommended purchase.
Author: Gary W. Gallagher
Publisher: The Teaching Company
Lectures: 48 thirty minute lectures
Format: Tapes, CDs, or Video