Book Description
"Company Aytch is one of my favorite Civil War books, ever."--Ken Burns
Among the plethora of books about the Civil War Company Aytch stands out for its uniquely personal view of the events as related by a most engaging writer--a man with Twain-like talents who served as a foot soldier for four long years in the Confederate army. Originally published in 1881 as a series of articles in the Columbia, Tennessee, Herald, Sam Watkins's account has long been recognized by historians as one of the most lively and witty accounts of the war. Parallels between this text and The Red Badge of Courage suggest that Stephen Crane was also among Private Watkins's readers.
This edition of Company Aytch also contains six previously uncollected articles by Sam Watkins, plus other valuable supplementary materials, including a map and period illustrations, a glossary of technical and military terms, a chronology of events, a concise history of Watkins's regiment, a biographical directory of individuals mentioned in the narrative, and geographic and topical indexes. This new edition of a Civil War classic is bound to become the edition of choice for students, military buffs, and general readers alike.
Customer Reviews:
Great insight from the common solider.......2007-09-30
While this book is not for the beginner Civil War reader it is a must have for those that want to understand just how it must have been. Along with "All for the Union" "Bayonet's forward" and other Company level collections.
This is an editted version and has cleaned up some of the grammer and errors per the author.
Further the text presumes that the reader knows what is going on and makes scant reference to the common names for the battles he fought in or other forms of reference, hence the not for the casual reader comment earlier.
A Respectable Piece of Civil War Literature.......2007-03-27
This book was written by a Confederate private who served in the Army of Tennessee for nearly the entirety of the Civil War. Published in serial form after the war (one reviewer suggested that his material was written during the war, such as a diary would have been; however, that reviewer is simply incorrect, and the distinction is important enough to warrant mention) and then in book form in 1880, this memoir of civil war experiences from a private's perspective is priceless in terms of primary source material. Watkins is frank and unapologetic, a quality that provides the historian with unique material in terms of dealing with the sentiments that the non-elite confederates often held.
Watkin's candor is probably the most important feature of this work. His hatred of Yankees and often equally strong hatred of some of the Confederate command suggests an individual who probably defies current simple notions of Yankee/Rebel mentality. Watkins is often witty, especially when reflecting upon feelings that we would now understand as being imbedded in "class struggle". Of course, Watkin's frankness extends to his views of blacks and slaves, illuminating an individual who was both racist and yet not in the generally held stereotypical manner.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the Confederate experience from the perspective of the non-elitist point of view. This book would be great for a high school curriculum covering the Civil War era, and would also be a good part of any similar college-level syllabus. This is a relatively quick read (especially when compared to such works as "Mary Chesnut's Civil War" or "The Diary of Edmund Ruffin"), which makes it ideal for those just beginning their exposure to the Civil War or more specifically to the Confederate experience.
War is Hell, but it's also awfully bureaucratic.......2006-03-23
Company Aytch may not be unique in the annals of war books, but it is certainly unusual. Plenty of soldiers have kept journals of their war days, and plenty of historians have quilted together pretty vivid accounts of various wars from such journals. I haven't read Thucydides multi-volume account of the Peloponnesian war, but based on excerpts his works come to mind, perhaps because like Company Aytch it was also written during a horrible civil war. Thucydides was a general, though, and Watkins was a foot soldier, and thus he gives us the terror, tedium, and even humor of war through the eyes of everyman. The sheer horror of "The Elephant" as the southerners called the battle, comes through even though the unblinking eye of the veteran of many campaigns has grown used to it. My uncle once told me you could get used to hanging if you did it long enough, and I suppose that happened a bit to these battle-hardened men, but still the process is fascinating, and for good or ill, we are also spared vivid descriptions of the worst of the horrors, even though at Franklin and other places he encountered them aplenty.
Because it is a ground up view, one rarely gets the big picture, and thus this book alone would not come close to giving you a War Between the States overview. It also somehow feels contemporary, as the intelligence and wit of the author caught up in the machinery and beauracracy of war between governments is something that rings a bell with us in the modern world.
As a supplement I would highly recommend it. In fact I'm not sure that any in depth study of the Civil War would be complete without it.
Indespensible for the re-enactor.......2005-04-26
I was introduced to this masterpiece a few years back when I was a novice to re-enacting and I wanted to know more about the soldier's experience. It is a true treasure-trove of information regarding the frontline experiences of a Confederate soldier.
Watkins gently takes the reader by the hand and leads them through the horrors of day to day life in the Army of Tennessee (and even in the Army of Northern Virginia for a small portion of the book). The nightmare of their day-to-day existence is softened by Watkins' gentle humor, making the journey a wonderful read. True, there are some 'politically incorrect' passages relating to his opinions on slavery, African-Americans in general, and even regarding the Confederate hiearchy (if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Confederate, your feathers may get ruffled a bit), but remember: this is the first person account of a man who was there. There was no Civil Rights March in Waktins' day, only a Civil War.
If you are a re-enactor of the War Between the States, this book is a must for you. IF you're not, this is still one of the best (i.e.: most entertaining) books on the subject of the Army of Tennessee. Enjoy!
Great insight to a Private Soldier's Civil War.......2004-01-19
This is a first-hand account of Civil War life and battles as exprienced by a private in the C.S.A. Army, Sam Watkins. Watkins explains throughout that he is NOT a historian nor should his writings ever be considered history. But, if you want to know what went on in the minds of those young men, then this is a must read. I bought this one after browsing through a friend's book, Company Aytch by Sam Watkins, and I recommend this one as it does contain additional writings (sketches) by Watkins as well as a glossary of definitions, which I found necessary. Thomas Ingle does not edit nor rewite Watkin's writings but simply includes additional material. Also, this edition has been fixed of all previous typos.
Product Description
This Audiofy audiobook chip packs Dan Calhoun's full 8.5 hour reading of "Company Aytch (Company H)" on a tiny memory card. A single Audiofy audiobook chip, hardly larger than a stamp, holds a complete digital audiobook, and saves the last listening position automatically, unlike CDs. With an SD memory card slot or adapter - like those for digital cameras - this Audiofy audiobook chip can be played on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers or laptops (Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Me/98, or Apple Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above) or transferred to Apple iPod media players. Audiobook chips also move seamlessly to most Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld PDAs with SD expansion slots, as well as Treo and Windows Mobile "smartphones" (Palm OS 5.2 or Windows Mobile 2002 and above)... Company Aytch is considered to be the best account of the Civil War ever written from the confederate point of view. It is also the one most frequently cited by historians of the Western campaigns. Sam Watkins, a high private in the Army of Tennessee, brings a vividness and detail to his story unmatched in the genre.
Product Description
A Classic Memoir of the Civil war
Average customer rating:
- A Confederate soldier's experience--well worth reading.
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Company Aytch: A Confederate's Memoir of the Civil War
Sam Watkins
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
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Customer Reviews:
A Confederate soldier's experience--well worth reading........2004-01-03
This book is the story of a Confederate lower-ranking soldier's wartime experiences during the Civil War. Watkins wrote this a considerable time after the war, and he admits that some of his memories may have faded, some of his facts may be wrong, because after all, what he is really serving up is a private's perspective of great events, which tend to focus on remarkably different issues than a general or a historian might relate--often a worm's eye view of things.
In reality, Watkins is too modest, because this book is a sensitive, gritty, honest, and insightful look at the experiences of a Confederate soldier who participated in some of the heaviest fighting of the Civil War, or indeed American history. Without saying so, we learn that Watkins and his fellow Confederates were not fighting to preserve slavery and very few of them could have cared less about the issue. While this was undoubtedly the underlying cause of the Civil War (the slavery issue) the Confederate rank and file did not see it that way--they were fighting for what they believed was their right of self-government--"Southern Rights." And in the end, they believed they were fighting for their homes. This comes shining through Watkins' memoirs.
Watkins' writing features a whimsical humor combined with a gritty authenticity that in my opinion gives a truly valuable insight into the daily life and wartime experiences of a real fighting man. We've all read about the high casualty rates in the Civil War infantry. Watkins lived with this fact, and his various accounts of men fighting and dying to his right and left, day after day, indeed year after year, drive home the fact that this was a deadly struggle, and a catastrophe for those caught up in it. Watkins' matter-of-fact descriptions of his battles, his encounters with many other aspects of the war (the horrible situations in some of the hospitals, for example), and many other things make this book not only a pleasure to read, but a valuable contribution to history.
Ken Burns' "The Civil War" drew heavily on Watkins' book, and rightly so. Watkins' memoirs provide wonderful insight not only about what the war was like, but also what the Confederate soldier was like.
Customer Reviews:
The complete story of one Confederate's service........1999-09-21
If you've ever wondered what it was like to be a soldier in the Civil War, get this book. I recommend it whether your sympathies are Union or Confederate, whether you are new to studying the War or a lifelong buff. Sam Watkins tells the reader of all the excitement, tedium, bravery, fear, humor, and horror of a soldier's life in wartime. He is an excellent storyteller, with a style on a par with Mark Twain. I only regret that he wrote 20 years after the War, and his memory was better in recalling some events than others. But he recalls more than enough to give a complete picture. He was, of course, a staunch Confederate, but does not dwell much on politics. He judges senior officers on their individual merits as he saw them, and his opinions of them run the gamut from near worship of his regimental commander to contempt for Braxton Bragg. The book is a valuable soldier's-eye history of the Army of Tennessee, and portions of it are the only surviving first-hand accounts of the events recounted. The details of daily Army life will be of particular interest to re-enactors.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent collection of material
- unbalanced
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Alexander the Great: A Reader
I. Worthington
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Similar Items:
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Alexander the Great: Man and God
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The Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin Classics)
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The History of Alexander (Penguin Classics)
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Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction
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The Greek Alexander Romance (Penguin Classics)
ASIN: 0415291879 |
Book Description
With his unprecedented conquests from Greece in the west to India in the East, Alexander the Great was the type of man that legends are made of; therein lies the problem for those studying him. Ought we to accept the image of a dashing king enjoying a string of spectacular successes, or adopt a more cynical evaluation, taking note of all the negative aspects of his reign? In the light of the evidence at our disposal, does he even deserve to be called "Great"?
This exciting new volume is an indispensable guide for undergraduates to the study of Alexander the Great, showing the problems of the ancient source material, and making it clear that there is no single approach to be taken.
The eleven thematic chapters contain a broad selection of the most significant published articles about Alexander, examining the main areas of debate and discussion:the sources; Alexander's background; Alexander's aims; Alexander and the Greeks; Alexander and Asia; Alexander, India and the Final Years; Alexander asGeneral; Alexander and "The unity of Mankind"; Alexander and Deification; Alexander and Conspiracies; Alexander: The 'Great'?
The Reader has the distinctive feature of translating a substantial number of the more inaccessible primary sources; each chapter is also prefaced with a succinct introduction to the topic under consideration.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent collection of material.......2004-12-30
Everything you could want to know about the problems and controversies affecting Alexander will be found in this book. A gem of a book, a must for anyone interested in Greek history.
unbalanced.......2004-02-21
This volume contains some interesting articles. Some submissions (Brunt pages 45-51; Narain pages 161-167) are truly rewarding and interesting. But others (Worthington pages 303-316) are just a waste of paper and ink. In general, the editor of this compilation of academic articles seems to lack empathy with the Ancient world to truly understand what he is dealing with. So the whole collection is unbalanced - in quality, perspective, scientific approach. Only readers who are already very familiar with academic studies about Alexander should be able to make a sharp distinction between the worthwile articles and the rubbish.
What annoys me is that of all the published articles, no single one is has a proper date. There is a long article by J.F.C. Fuller, who died in 1966. Fuller was born in 1878 (!), took up interest in Alexander in 1917 (!) and wrote his major works about Alexander around 1957. But Fuller's article in Worthington's reader is published without any proper dating, confusing readers to expect that it might be especially written for Worthington's 2003 edition of "A Reader". That can't be true. Mister Fuller would have been 125 years old!
So Worthington's edition - to me - seems like a hoax.
That doesn't mean that 'some' of the articles aren't truly worthwile. That's why there are still 2 stars in my rating. But in general: I fear that books like this tend to downgrade the overall reputation of a scientist / editor in the long run.
Book Description
The legend of a warrior king.
DK brings history to life for young readers with dramatic eyewitness accounts in this unique nonfiction series. Each volume is packed with detailed and accurate information, featuring cross-sections, exploded views, pull-outs, and cutaways designed to illuminate each subject. Extraordinary and evocative storytelling combined with DK's unique visual presentation create an outstanding library of children's reference books. In this book, readers follow along as Alexander lays siege to the Persian Empire in his bid for domination of the ancient world. Children will experience the life of Macedonia's great Warrior King and witness his exploits and the conquests that laid the foundation for the golden age of Greece.
Customer Reviews:
A Review of Alexander the Great.......2002-12-03
Imagine that your father, King Philip of Macidonia was just murdered by a former body guard, and that you are forced to become king at the young age of 22. Shortly after you become king some of your cities rebel against your rule, you have no military experience, and yet that is your only option.
Do you think that ever happened to anyone? It happened to Alexander of Macedonia. When the cities revolted Alexander went in and completely destroyed them, then he sold the entire population ( selling women and children as slaves was highly irregular) as slaves to be a warning to other cities that might revolt( most of the cities probably thought that Alexander was a weak king because he was so young). I think that Peter Chrisp gives a wonderful account of Alexander's life in his book, Alexander the Great.
Alexander had many exploits along his many journeys, and there is a story for each and every one. I will tell you one of those tales; it is about The Gordian Knot. In the city of Gordium there was a temple, inside this temple was a very old cart. Its yoke was tied with a knot called The Gordian Knot. The Gordian Knot was very complex, in fact it was so complex that you could not see either loose end of the rope. Many people had tried to untie the knot, but no one could. The people of the city thought that the first person to untie the knot would rule the world. On his way east Alexander stopped at Gordium and tried to untie the knot. After wrestling with the knot for a while he said, "It makes no difference how it is untied"-- and with that he took out his dagger and cut right through it. In case you did not know Alexander conquered the entire world that was known at the time and more! So perhaps the Gordian Prophecy was true.
In this book you will read about Alexander of Macedonia (who later earns the title: Alexander the Great) and his many battles, his battle tactics (most of which are incredible), his military genius, and plus have a peek at what life was like for one of Alexander's soldiers.
If you enjoy reading historical nonfiction, and also enjoy reading about the ancient Greeks then you will love Alexander the Great by Peter Chrisp.
Great for young and mature adults alike.......2001-07-15
Though this picture book is primarily aimed at young adults, older readers will enjoy it as well. It's wonderfully illustrated and very informative, giving an overview of the conquest of Alexander as well as the ancient Greek and Persian cultures. The full-color illustrations really elucidate the subject matter. All in all, a wonderful book, and one I am happy to have in my library.
Average customer rating:
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Alexander Pope and His Eighteenth-Century Women Readers
Claudia Thomas
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
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ASIN: 0809318865 |
Book Description
Throughout the 1980s, scholars debated Alexander Pope’s attitude toward women by applying such critical methods as Marxist or deconstructionist theories to his texts. In this book, Claudia N. Thomas instead adopts reader-response theory in order to present what she regards as a more accurate analysis, mindful of the historical reception of Pope’s various works.
Thomas specifically responds to modern allegations that Pope was a misogynist and a literary victimizer of women. If Pope thought women inconsequential, she argues, why did he bother to cultivate a female audience? Furthermore, how did eighteenth-century women readers receive his writings?
Thomas answers these questions by examining the literary responses to Pope of his eighteenth-century women readers: their prose responses to Pope, their poems addressed to him or replying to his poems, and their poems strongly influenced by him. These responses not only clarify Pope’s works and their relation to cultural history; they also advance women’s literary history by reconstructing the female experience of eighteenth-century culture.
A surprising amount of testimony survives to illuminate the ways eighteenth-century women read Pope. Women referred to, quoted, and commented on his poems and letters in a variety of writings: diaries, letters, travel books, translations, essays, poems, and novels. They wrote poems of praise and criticism and designed companion pieces to his poems. A number of women poets learned their craft by studying his work; their poems frequently appropriate and recontextualize his themes, language, and imagery.
For many women, a response to Pope was a reaction to cultural issues ranging from women’s emotional and intellectual qualities to their creative capacity. Women’s responses to Pope demonstrate that they were often shrewdly critical of his gendered rhetoric, yet in contrast, women often claimed him as a sympathetic ally in their quests for education and for a more dignified role in their culture.
Average customer rating:
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Alexander the Great (Georgian Readers)
Hugh Gethin
Manufacturer: Georgian Press (Jersey) Ltd
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ASIN: 1873630026 |
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Alexander the Great (Penguin Readers)
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ASIN: 0582829917 |
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Milton To Pope, 1650 - 1720 (Transitions)
Kay Gilliland Stevenson
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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ASIN: 0333696123 |
Book Description
In a fresh survey of English writing from 1650-1720, Milton to Pope explores the multiplicity of what one ballad writer called "this scribbling age." The focus of the book is on close readings of both familiar and lesser-known texts, placing them within larger contexts. Among questions raised are how the "period" looks from the perspective of the late 17th century and from our own time and how reputations of writers have changed over time. Stevenson takes a close look at poetry, prose, and drama, with particular emphasis on what is to be learned from details of earlier printing practices and manuscript circulation.
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