Five Forks: Waterloo of the Confederacy | 
| Author: Robert Alexander
Publisher: Michigan State University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 1260621
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6 x 0.7
ISBN: 0870136712
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780870136719
ASIN: 0870136712
Publication Date: May 2003
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| Customer Reviews:
 Thought-Provoking February 16, 2006
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
While I understand the view of the previous reviewer, I see a different point.
The author included carefully selected quotations to express his view -- not just a random bunch of them.
Jim Harrison's summary is right on point and if you read that, you will understand what this book is about.
It's the musing of a person about war, the Civil War in particular, how awful and useless it is, how we fall into it, how none of it makes any sense.
One quotation that struck a chord with me was the one by Alexis de Tocqueville on page 85 about slavery: "The American of the South is fond of grandeur, luxury, and renown, of gayety, pleasure, and above all, of idleness; nothing obliges him to exert himself in order to subsist; and as he has no necessary occupations, he gives way to indolence and does not even attempt what would be useful." I spent a number of years working in South Carolina (not my native state) and was dumbfounded by the laziness of a significant number of the white males with whom I worked. Could it be another legacy of slavery? It wouldn't matter so much except that they were being paid high salaries from Federal tax dollars.
The book evoked an emotional response that lingers. Go ahead and read it -- it does not have a lot of time-wasting filler.
 Five Forks and Five Pages January 18, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Alexander's book Five Forks is an interesting book, rich in primary references. In fact it seems like most of the book has Alexander acting as editor and moving from one quote or fact to another. In many ways it was an enoyable read though it was a quick one. I was however disappointed that the book has very little to do with the Battle of Five Forks. It scarely mentioning the battle thru almost the first 100 pages except to bring up the much discussed Shad picnic.
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