This Cruel War: The Civil War Letters of Grant and Malinda Taylor

Editorially, this book suffers from a military slant that avoids discussing the very things that make these letter important: the soldier's concern for family and home and the impact that concern had on his mental and emotional condition. Footnoting is haphazard at best and wavers between military history and endlessly repetitive genealogy. I can appreciate the work that went into identifying each person mentioned either by given or nicknames, but by page 30 we are already familiar with who the cousins and brothers are and don't need to be reminded.

Read the book for its appeal as a primary source but skip the notes.


Two views of the Civil War told personally   April 9, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book is a collection of 160 letters between soldier-husband and homefront-wife from 1862-1865. The remarkable quality about this collection is the interaction between Grant relating his military experiences and Malinda keeping him informed about their children, the farm, and friends and relatives in their community. Very readable book!


superb   March 24, 2000
Many hard hours have been put into this book. First the letters had to be transcribed from a handwriting to a typed print. You feel everything from this aspect...especially when you know lineage. The reader appreciates the finest detail. A movie could come from these letters so easily...this was the time!


superb   March 24, 2000
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Many hard hours have been put into this book. First the letters had to be transcribed from a handwriting to a typed print. You feel everything from this aspect...especially when you know lineage. The reader appreciates the finest detail. A movie could come from these letters so easily...this was the time!