A World on Fire: An Epic History of Two Nations Divided [Hardcover]

In the immortal advice to a tourist were I start to a journey into examining the American Civil War it wouldn't be from this point. By any standards "A World on Fire" by Amanda Foreman is a big narrative history which self proclaims itself to be "epic" in its title and it certainly is a beast when its comes to size (frankly my arm ached holding it) and scale amounting to 816 pages of narrative and a further 100+ of detailed sources. Some other reviewers have rightly complained about the lack of a bibliography. All I would say was that if one was added you would need to take our hernia insurance to read this book, although the lavish illustrations are some compensation.

Foreman's underpinning concept is however a very interesting angle namely a transatlantic view of the American civil war one of the most fascinating of all modern conflicts and which has attracted huge historical attention. Thus rather than another book primarily about the "usual suspects" namely Lincoln, Lee, Sherman, Grant and Forest we have a different set of protagonists most notably Lord Lyons the UK ambassador to Washington and possibly one of the most introverted men who ever lived; US Secretary of State William Seward already charted in humongous detail in Doris Kearns Goodwin's truly epic "Team of Rivals"; Charles Francis Adams the grandson of the great John Adams and US ambassador to the Court St James and the spiky Lord John Russell the English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century and was the Foreign Secretary throughout the course of the Civil War.

Coming from the premise that the Civil War was an international conflict allows Foreman to weave a huge narrative that charts the fact many years before the Spanish civil War thousands of people from these isles were inspired to fight in this conflict which prefigured uncannily much of the carnage of the First World War. One of these was Dr Livingstone's great chum and fickle Welshman Henry Stanley who started off with the confederate Company E, 6th Arkansas Regiment of Volunteers and who learned the "rebel yell" at the Battle of Shiloh which he described as "wave after wave of human voices, louder than all other battle sounds together". Stanley was eventually taken prisoner where he promptly deserted and joined the Union all before his great African adventures. In another quirk of fate David Livingstone's son Robert died in a Confederate prison camp.

Britain was also of course THE great super power at this time American politicians particularly those in the Confederacy were desperate to gain British patronage and recognition in the maelstrom which followed. Foreman usefully highlights how the pro Northern Faction of MPs in the House of Commons led by the great John Bright and William Foster managed to hold back the tide of pro confederacy support particularly from those MPs with links to "King Cotton". Yet British neutrality was strained throughout the conflict and Foreman charts incidents such as the boarding of the British ship the Trent in 1861 which became a source of high irritation and intense friction in the conduct of British foreign policy. By any standards this conflict was a headache for Britain not least around a conflict of principled opposition to slavery abolished here in 1833 but in turn a desire to be a key player in the strategic and lucrative transatlantic trade around cotton. If the world wasn't complicated enough British Foreign Policy was also was grappling at the same time with Napoleon III's ambitions in Europe and Bismarck's rise in Germany.

The value of Foreman's book then is to come at the conflict from a vantage point that has been heavily neglected. She clearly has invested her heart and soul in the book although some of her facts are somewhat wayward (her summary of the Wilderness campaign for example is confusing) and some editing would not gone amiss. That said her chapters which chart the confederates procuring supplies and men particularly in Liverpool are fascinating and you genuinely can learn many facts and new dimensions of the war from this book that have hitherto been submerged. Thus as stated above this book it not a starting point for a study of the American Civil War. The curious reader would be wise to seek out James MacPherson's staggering "Battle Cry of Freedom" as a starter or Ken Burns brilliant documentary series the "American Civil War" which is often shown on television. Foreman's weighty tome is far more specialist but is full of insights and a damn good read for Civil War aficionado's.

I have just completed A World on Fire, Amanda Foreman's staggering achievement which has been compared to both Gone With The Wind and War and Peace by serious and eminent reviewers. Although I had read and admired Ms Foreman's previous book, Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, I was half prepared to be disappointed based upon the high expectations I had following these and the other accolades she had already received. But no - to the contrary, over 5 glorious days I was swept away by the simple beauty of Ms Foreman's prose and her page turning story telling skills...She tackled one of the most forensically scrutinised subjects in history, the American Civil War and yet somehow she mined fresh and fascinating new perspectives. Her scope is vast and the historical sweep is global yet her book remains intimate and hugely entertaining!
Words like masterpiece, tour de force and magnificent are applied far too easily these days but it is without hesitation that I readily apply them now to Ms Foreman's latest book. Do not be daunted by its length...It is indeed as most reviewers have already declared, a towering achievement and a truly great read!
I have entitled my review "Critical Integrity" for a reason. Anyone who has actually completed a book ( published or not) knows so well that the lonely often selfish and endless journey is riddled with emotion, conflict, guilt, elation, disappointment and sleepless nights....It is never an easy journey. It may be thrilling and indeed in many ways it can be rewarding... Certainly it is always challenging....but it is never easy...
Published writers like all others in the hazardous arena of public opinion rightly face scrutiny of their work... Indeed the internet has empowered us all with the ability to express a personal view...However, when reading the Amazon Readers Reviews of A World on Fire it struck me that a tiny minority appear to have used this awesome tool to simply take cheap shots at Ms. Foreman's fine work...Readers have a moral obligation to authors and other readers alike to write their personal reviews with integrity. It is gratifying however to see that the overwhelming majority of Amazon Reviewers share my opinion that Amanda Foreman's A World on Fire is MAGNIFICENT!

There can be few readers of popular history who don't really deep down wish this book well. Amanda Foreman comes to her new work with peerless credentials: her great book on the Duchess of Devonshire has become a recent popular historical classic, reaching an audience who are in many cases indifferent to or new to academic historical study.

The theme of her new book could not be grander: she wants to try and do no less than two outline the complex web of relationships between Britain, at the height of its imperial power, and the warring states of the Union and Confederacy during the American Civil War. This is a historical topic with direct contemporary relevance as we look at the fabric of the special relationship being woven in the 20th century, and cut into innovative and frightening new patterns the 21st! One wonders how many diplomats and politicians will receive a copy of this book for Christmas 2010...

You might have read, like me, the mainstream reviews of this book which are generally positive. However, the very well-informed and serious reviews listed elsewhere on this page do raise fundamental questions about the ambitious nature of this book. It is a monster, coming in at over 800 pages. It is finally produced, well bound, well illustrated and has a pleasing number of maps. It has to be said that Foreman has given herself quite a task by narrating not only the diplomatic involvements, but also giving a broad outline of the war as a whole. If you like me, have recently read John Keegan's book on the American Civil War, you might find a lot here that you already read. You will also probably find considerably more objective and accurate treatments of the war in a single volume from modest price.

But be under no illusions that the story she tells is an absolutely compelling one. Britain found itself culturally, morally and emotionally torn between feelings of kinship with the South, economic ties to the cotton industry, and common cause with the North and a general revulsion at the institution of slavery. Those readers who already watched the Ken Burns documentary from the 1990s will already be aware of some of the British voices (their narrated by Derek Jacobi and Jeremy Irons!) who dominate this fantastic narrative.

To summarise: this is grand historical writing, but the question marks over its editing and academic accuracy have to be answered. I was sneaking feeling this will become the historical equivalent of Ted Hughes' book on Shakespeare: reviled and misunderstood initially, but now regarded as something of a classic. I hope so.