Jay Winik is a leading historian of American History. He is well-known for his creative and insightful approaches to history. He is the author of April 1865, which along with being a New York Times #1 Bestseller became an award winning documentary on the History Channel, as well as The Great Upheaval, which was released in September of 2007, and On the Brink. Winik is a senior scholar of history and public policy at the University of Maryland. He is also a member of the governing council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is a regular contributor of articles and commentaries to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He currently lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
April 1865 is a book that gives an excellent new perspective on the ending of the Civil War. Winik provides background information to the War overall by starting with descriptions of what all started the War and how the nation was changing as a whole. He uses brilliant imagery with the changing of the Monticello over time to show this changing of a nation. He also places great emphasis on how the United States prior to the Civil War were not actually united and how the states were split over sectional differences, especially slavery. Also in the introduction is included the events leading up to the end of the War. Winik then starts the meat of the book in March of 1865. He proceeds to go through the events of March and April 1865 as they pertain to the Civil War, and very thoroughly explains how each affected the outcome. He breaks up the month of April into very small sections, from April 1st, 1865, to April 15th, 1865, almost on a day-to-day basis, usually only including two or three days in each chapter. By including only a few days in a 50-page chapter, Winik is able to go into great depth and detail in talking about what was happening, as well as describe the major players in the situation including as their role in the overall outcome of the war.
Winik’s purpose in writing April 1865 was to educate his readers on how close America was to having a totally different outcome to the war, and how the events of this month were so perfectly aligned to allow for the creation of a unified country. He uses terms used from the time period (such as “confederacy”, or “united States” to emphasize that they were not actually united) along with other relevant quotes to support his views on the historical content. Winik’s background was very useful in writing the book, as he lives in a region of the United States where records from the Civil War can be accessed in abundance. The University of Maryland probably has a library which could be used for extensive research, also. Winik’s purpose in writing the book does not give him any room to be biased, as he is simply presenting the facts. He gives possible outcomes based on certain events having happened differently. Though he may be biased into preferring one side of the war over the other, he does not show it in April 1865. The book is based around the events that occurred in April 1865, but there are also extensive preliminary events included. The book does not have a specific thesis, but rather shows the impact that certain outcomes of events had on America’s history as we know it. Therefore, if a thesis had to be determined, it would probably be that America’s history would not have turned out as it did if the months leading up to the end of the Civil War had been different. Winik uses direct quotes from the time period and logical reasoning to make his deductions that support his thesis. He also includes many pictures of important historical figures along with maps of battle scenes to help further the reader’s understanding of the events. Winik’s writing is fairly clear, though there are points where he writes very long and confusing sentences that the reader must read multiple times to understand fully. He does, however, use a very complete vocabulary in his writing. Winik’s usage of maps and pictures is very appropriate and aiding to the reader, and they help give a better idea of the war strategies and of what the figures that he mentions look like. This book greatly contributed to my understanding of history. Prior to reading this book, I was unaware of how close our nation was to being so different than it is today. With Winik’s analysis of situations and outcomes, I really learned a lot about the history of our nation.
Overall, April 1865 is a well-written book that accomplishes its author’s goals for it. It won awards, and educates its readers about how our nation came to be as it is along with describing how close we were to having a totally different nation. It was written by an accomplished author who is effective in breaking down situations and possible outcomes, and who knows how to effectively use visual aids to help with the reader’s understanding of the text. April 1865 was truly effective in furthering my understanding of the Civil War era.
April 1865 is a book that gives an excellent new perspective on the ending of the Civil War. Winik provides background information to the War overall by starting with descriptions of what all started the War and how the nation was changing as a whole. He uses brilliant imagery with the changing of the Monticello over time to show this changing of a nation. He also places great emphasis on how the United States prior to the Civil War were not actually united and how the states were split over sectional differences, especially slavery. Also in the introduction is included the events leading up to the end of the War. Winik then starts the meat of the book in March of 1865. He proceeds to go through the events of March and April 1865 as they pertain to the Civil War, and very thoroughly explains how each affected the outcome. He breaks up the month of April into very small sections, from April 1st, 1865, to April 15th, 1865, almost on a day-to-day basis, usually only including two or three days in each chapter. By including only a few days in a 50-page chapter, Winik is able to go into great depth and detail in talking about what was happening, as well as describe the major players in the situation including as their role in the overall outcome of the war.
Winik’s purpose in writing April 1865 was to educate his readers on how close America was to having a totally different outcome to the war, and how the events of this month were so perfectly aligned to allow for the creation of a unified country. He uses terms used from the time period (such as “confederacy”, or “united States” to emphasize that they were not actually united) along with other relevant quotes to support his views on the historical content. Winik’s background was very useful in writing the book, as he lives in a region of the United States where records from the Civil War can be accessed in abundance. The University of Maryland probably has a library which could be used for extensive research, also. Winik’s purpose in writing the book does not give him any room to be biased, as he is simply presenting the facts. He gives possible outcomes based on certain events having happened differently. Though he may be biased into preferring one side of the war over the other, he does not show it in April 1865. The book is based around the events that occurred in April 1865, but there are also extensive preliminary events included. The book does not have a specific thesis, but rather shows the impact that certain outcomes of events had on America’s history as we know it. Therefore, if a thesis had to be determined, it would probably be that America’s history would not have turned out as it did if the months leading up to the end of the Civil War had been different. Winik uses direct quotes from the time period and logical reasoning to make his deductions that support his thesis. He also includes many pictures of important historical figures along with maps of battle scenes to help further the reader’s understanding of the events. Winik’s writing is fairly clear, though there are points where he writes very long and confusing sentences that the reader must read multiple times to understand fully. He does, however, use a very complete vocabulary in his writing. Winik’s usage of maps and pictures is very appropriate and aiding to the reader, and they help give a better idea of the war strategies and of what the figures that he mentions look like. This book greatly contributed to my understanding of history. Prior to reading this book, I was unaware of how close our nation was to being so different than it is today. With Winik’s analysis of situations and outcomes, I really learned a lot about the history of our nation.
Overall, April 1865 is a well-written book that accomplishes its author’s goals for it. It won awards, and educates its readers about how our nation came to be as it is along with describing how close we were to having a totally different nation. It was written by an accomplished author who is effective in breaking down situations and possible outcomes, and who knows how to effectively use visual aids to help with the reader’s understanding of the text. April 1865 was truly effective in furthering my understanding of the Civil War era.