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The Crisis
This is a novel about the events leading up to the American Civil War, by the American author Winston Churchill. The story is set in the author's home town of St. Louis, Missouri, the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies.
504 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1901
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About the author
Winston Churchill
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This is not the British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. This is the American novelist, Winston Churchill.
Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Spalding and Emma Bell (Blaine) Churchill. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894 and became an editor of the Army and Navy Journal. He resigned from the navy to pursue a writing career. While he would be most successful as a novelist, he was also a published poet and essayist.
His first novel was The Celebrity (1898). (Mr. Keegan's Elopement was published in 1896 within a magazine. In 1903 it was republished as an illustrated hardback book.) Churchill's next novel—Richard Carvel (1899)—was a phenomenon, selling as many as two million copies in a nation of only 76 million, and made Churchill rich. His next two novels, The Crisis (1901) and The Crossing (1904), were also very successful.
Churchill's early novels were historical but his later works were set in contemporary America. He often sought to include his political ideas into his novels. Churchill wrote in the naturalist style of literature, and some have called him the most influential of the American naturalists.
In 1899, Churchill moved to Cornish, New Hampshire. He became involved in politics and was elected to the state legislature in 1903 and 1905. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1906. In 1912, he was nominated as the Progressive candidate for governor but did not win the election. He did not again seek office. In 1917, he toured the battlefields of World War I and wrote about what he saw, his first non-fiction work.
Sometime after this move, he took up watercolors, and also became known for his landscapes. Some of his works are in the collections of Cornish Colony Museum in Windsor, Vermont, Hood Museum of Art (part of Hopkins Center for the Arts Dartmouth College) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire.
In 1919, Churchill decided to stop writing and withdrew from public life. As a result of this he was gradually forgotten by the public. In 1940, The Uncharted Way, his first book in 20 years, was published. The book examined Churchill's thoughts on religion. He did not seek to publicize the book and it received little attention. Shortly before his death he said, "It is very difficult now for me to think of myself as a writer of novels, as all that seems to belong to another life."
Churchill died in Winter Park, Florida in 1947. He is the great-grandfather of Albany, New York, journalist Chris Churchill.
[]
Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Spalding and Emma Bell (Blaine) Churchill. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894 and became an editor of the Army and Navy Journal. He resigned from the navy to pursue a writing career. While he would be most successful as a novelist, he was also a published poet and essayist.
His first novel was The Celebrity (1898). (Mr. Keegan's Elopement was published in 1896 within a magazine. In 1903 it was republished as an illustrated hardback book.) Churchill's next novel—Richard Carvel (1899)—was a phenomenon, selling as many as two million copies in a nation of only 76 million, and made Churchill rich. His next two novels, The Crisis (1901) and The Crossing (1904), were also very successful.
Churchill's early novels were historical but his later works were set in contemporary America. He often sought to include his political ideas into his novels. Churchill wrote in the naturalist style of literature, and some have called him the most influential of the American naturalists.
In 1899, Churchill moved to Cornish, New Hampshire. He became involved in politics and was elected to the state legislature in 1903 and 1905. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1906. In 1912, he was nominated as the Progressive candidate for governor but did not win the election. He did not again seek office. In 1917, he toured the battlefields of World War I and wrote about what he saw, his first non-fiction work.
Sometime after this move, he took up watercolors, and also became known for his landscapes. Some of his works are in the collections of Cornish Colony Museum in Windsor, Vermont, Hood Museum of Art (part of Hopkins Center for the Arts Dartmouth College) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire.
In 1919, Churchill decided to stop writing and withdrew from public life. As a result of this he was gradually forgotten by the public. In 1940, The Uncharted Way, his first book in 20 years, was published. The book examined Churchill's thoughts on religion. He did not seek to publicize the book and it received little attention. Shortly before his death he said, "It is very difficult now for me to think of myself as a writer of novels, as all that seems to belong to another life."
Churchill died in Winter Park, Florida in 1947. He is the great-grandfather of Albany, New York, journalist Chris Churchill.
[]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
January 20, 2009
The best book I've ever read about Abraham Lincoln, in the same sense that the novel "Ben Hur" is about Jesus Christ. The American author Winston Churcill (NOT Winston S. Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain) portrays Lincoln as being the sacrifice America had to pay to redeem it from the sin of slavery.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
January 9, 2015
I haveÌý mixed emotions about this book.Ìý In the first place, I feel as though I read it somewhat under false pretense, since I definitely thought that it was a book by British Prime Minister and all around notable quotable Sir Winston Churchill.Ìý I had read and greatly enjoyed his History of the English Speaking People (am I misremembering the title?) several years ago, and assumed this was a book about World War II or somesuch.Ìý It is not.Ìý In fact, it is a novel, written by the American author of the same name, about the American Civil War.Ìý Apparently it was a phenomenal best seller when it came out.
So here's what I disliked:
- In the first place, the way the story was written strongly echoes some other narratives about the CW from that time (think D.W. Griffith, for ex.)--the characterization of the conflict as being primarily about state sovereignty, rather than being about the question of slavery, the ineffable pride, gentility and nobility of the southern landed aristocracy, in contrast to the mean, somewhat petty mercantilism of the northerners, the great (and, importantly, ennobling) sacrifices made by the South.Ìý While I have no doubt many white Southerners performed individual acts of nobility, valor and courage during the war, I cannot dissociate those acts from their goal--the ability to continue the chattel enslavement of fellow human beings.Ìý This makes their position, in my opinion, morally untenable, no matter how romantically they buckled their swashes during the conflict.
- Secondly, the whole story was quite melodramatic for my taste, like an antebellum soap opera.Ìý I get that it's a reflection of the writing of the period, but it still annoys me a bit.Ìý How many fluttering hearts and manly gazes must one endure?
- Thirdly, although the individual women in this story were capable of independent thought, action &c, only one (The Heroine) actually drives the action in any meaningful sense. And, predictably, her main struggle is over...wait for it...whether to marry the Yankee or the Reb!Ìý Yawn.
- Finally, the characterization of black people in this story is, shall we say, as less than equal partakers in society, history and, frankly, humanity than are white folk. They are, to an individual, caricatures--again, think D.W. Griffith.Ìý That part is pretty damn hard to stomach.
OK now the good parts (yes, there are some):
- The best part of this book is its locational perspective.Ìý I've never read a serious account of this period of US history from a Midwestern perspective.Ìý You hear plenty about the battles that took place in Pennsylvania, Virginia and the other Southern states, and you hear plenty about the political events in Washington and Richmond, and overseas.Ìý But this was a wholly new, and fascinating, perspective to me, especially since St. Louis was in many ways a major point of confluence between the two systems that fought this war.Ìý So, kudos to the author, who saw an oft-told story from a different angle and shed some really interesting new light on it.
- So, it would have been great if The Heroine had been a bit more of her own person.Ìý However, given the social realities of the period I think the author was reasonably forward-leaning regarding the characterization of at least that female character.Ìý It would have been great if there had been at least one more woman who was an actual, well-rounded human being in this story, and if the women had had some interactions that were not completely driven by the romantic subplots.Ìý Perhaps a bit much to ask for 1904 or whenever it was written.
Oh, one other kvetch.Ìý The whole Abe Lincoln as a type of Christ thing did not work for me, at all.Ìý Didn't work for me in Ben Hur, didn't work here.Ìý It was just annoying.Ìý I longed for him to make a sexist joke, or act rudely to a subordinate, or steal a napkin from a restaurant, just so we would know he was human.Ìý He didn't.
So all in all, not my favorite book, but an interesting lens on a story you already know. If that's what you're into.
So here's what I disliked:
- In the first place, the way the story was written strongly echoes some other narratives about the CW from that time (think D.W. Griffith, for ex.)--the characterization of the conflict as being primarily about state sovereignty, rather than being about the question of slavery, the ineffable pride, gentility and nobility of the southern landed aristocracy, in contrast to the mean, somewhat petty mercantilism of the northerners, the great (and, importantly, ennobling) sacrifices made by the South.Ìý While I have no doubt many white Southerners performed individual acts of nobility, valor and courage during the war, I cannot dissociate those acts from their goal--the ability to continue the chattel enslavement of fellow human beings.Ìý This makes their position, in my opinion, morally untenable, no matter how romantically they buckled their swashes during the conflict.
- Secondly, the whole story was quite melodramatic for my taste, like an antebellum soap opera.Ìý I get that it's a reflection of the writing of the period, but it still annoys me a bit.Ìý How many fluttering hearts and manly gazes must one endure?
- Thirdly, although the individual women in this story were capable of independent thought, action &c, only one (The Heroine) actually drives the action in any meaningful sense. And, predictably, her main struggle is over...wait for it...whether to marry the Yankee or the Reb!Ìý Yawn.
- Finally, the characterization of black people in this story is, shall we say, as less than equal partakers in society, history and, frankly, humanity than are white folk. They are, to an individual, caricatures--again, think D.W. Griffith.Ìý That part is pretty damn hard to stomach.
OK now the good parts (yes, there are some):
- The best part of this book is its locational perspective.Ìý I've never read a serious account of this period of US history from a Midwestern perspective.Ìý You hear plenty about the battles that took place in Pennsylvania, Virginia and the other Southern states, and you hear plenty about the political events in Washington and Richmond, and overseas.Ìý But this was a wholly new, and fascinating, perspective to me, especially since St. Louis was in many ways a major point of confluence between the two systems that fought this war.Ìý So, kudos to the author, who saw an oft-told story from a different angle and shed some really interesting new light on it.
- So, it would have been great if The Heroine had been a bit more of her own person.Ìý However, given the social realities of the period I think the author was reasonably forward-leaning regarding the characterization of at least that female character.Ìý It would have been great if there had been at least one more woman who was an actual, well-rounded human being in this story, and if the women had had some interactions that were not completely driven by the romantic subplots.Ìý Perhaps a bit much to ask for 1904 or whenever it was written.
Oh, one other kvetch.Ìý The whole Abe Lincoln as a type of Christ thing did not work for me, at all.Ìý Didn't work for me in Ben Hur, didn't work here.Ìý It was just annoying.Ìý I longed for him to make a sexist joke, or act rudely to a subordinate, or steal a napkin from a restaurant, just so we would know he was human.Ìý He didn't.
So all in all, not my favorite book, but an interesting lens on a story you already know. If that's what you're into.
July 12, 2023
It is not often that you read a book thirty-five years after the first time you read it, and find it to be just as achingly beautiful as the first time. But today I have. It has been my custom to read to my children all their lives. Today, I read the last chapter of this book to my now adult daughter. What a book to end on.
I do not know why America history has forgotten this Winston Churchill. I find his writing illuminating, compelling, haunting even. It is historical fiction of the greatest variety, showing us both great character studies and perfectly drawn portraits of the age and place in which they live. No book has shown me the South better than this one.
I read almost zero fiction anymore. But walking through this book with my daughter over the last year or more was like walking with a dear friend, one I hadn't seen in decades. If you like historical fiction, I cannot possibly recommend Mr. Churchill highly enough. He will make you see. And think. And feel. He will stay with you. And when you meet him again, you will be glad.
I do not know why America history has forgotten this Winston Churchill. I find his writing illuminating, compelling, haunting even. It is historical fiction of the greatest variety, showing us both great character studies and perfectly drawn portraits of the age and place in which they live. No book has shown me the South better than this one.
I read almost zero fiction anymore. But walking through this book with my daughter over the last year or more was like walking with a dear friend, one I hadn't seen in decades. If you like historical fiction, I cannot possibly recommend Mr. Churchill highly enough. He will make you see. And think. And feel. He will stay with you. And when you meet him again, you will be glad.
October 18, 2011
The best book I've ever read about Abraham Lincoln. The American author Winston Churchill (NOT Winston S. Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain) portrays Lincoln as being the sacrifice America had to pay to redeem it from the sin of slavery.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one, Virginia Carvel, the fashionable daughter of Comyn Carvel, a southern gentleman of the old school; the second, Clarence Maxwell Colfax, her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause in an effort to win Ginny's approval; the third, Stephen A. Brice, an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth, Eliphalet Hopper, a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself both financially and socially.
The crisis of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, Stephen Brice, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent following a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is Stephen's fellow lawyer, Karl, who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual, real-life incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater of war are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are shown as being personally involvemd in the lives of the main characters.
A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life when Clarence is condemned as a Southern spy late in the war, and together the two of them experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel "Ben Hur" is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic and inspiring presence throughout the story.
As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote "Ben Hur" partly as a way to reestablish his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely on the first day of the battle. The aftermath of that first day at Shiloh left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offered this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view; explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one, Virginia Carvel, the fashionable daughter of Comyn Carvel, a southern gentleman of the old school; the second, Clarence Maxwell Colfax, her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause in an effort to win Ginny's approval; the third, Stephen A. Brice, an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth, Eliphalet Hopper, a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself both financially and socially.
The crisis of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, Stephen Brice, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent following a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is Stephen's fellow lawyer, Karl, who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual, real-life incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater of war are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are shown as being personally involvemd in the lives of the main characters.
A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life when Clarence is condemned as a Southern spy late in the war, and together the two of them experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel "Ben Hur" is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic and inspiring presence throughout the story.
As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote "Ben Hur" partly as a way to reestablish his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely on the first day of the battle. The aftermath of that first day at Shiloh left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offered this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view; explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
August 3, 2013
You have a book called “The Crisis� by Winston Churchill and you automatically think, well, this is going to be about Churchill’s experience in World War 2. But then you start to read and it’s not that, and you read some more, and you slowly realize it’s not even the Winston Churchill we all know. This Churchill guy is an American novelist and his book, “The Crisis�, was released in 1901 and was a smashing bestseller, which in a way, is bad news. What sort of book would be a bestseller in 1901?
Like every era, it’s going to be some melodramatic, nostalgic bullshit. Novel is dramatization of the American Civil War, but not the good parts of the fighting and the killing, but the romances. And romantic books are shitty today, but way shittier back then. The setting is Southern America, and that’s another bad news, but that’s not all, focus it on the rich Southern gentleman and lady folks and its terrible melodramatic, hypocritical, sappy turd that I would have assumed would only be enjoyed by bored housewives, but since it is a bestseller, I guess men and woman both loved this tripe.
The book is a bit of historical importance because as I read the book, it seems no lessons at all were learned by the forced freeing of slaves in the South. There are some debates about slaves in the books, with both sides given some space to discuss it, but the way the author writes the black slaves makes it obvious that the real idea of black people having the RIGHT to be free doesn’t really enter the American mindset. All the slaves speak in such heavy dialects that I could barely understand what I was reading, and none of them were at all concerned or interested in being set free. They seemed happy enough to be slaves of their masters, and given that the book was a bestseller four decades after the end of the Civil War means that the average person doesn’t think differently. The idea of Southern honor and dignity also falls flat in my opinion. It’s easy to be a good host when one has all their work done by slaves. It is also easy for the rich, spoilt, white lily girl to look down on people who always talk about making money when the girl herself never had to work a day in her life. Which brings me to my final point. The only character in this book who is interesting is only main character that doesn’t come from an important family and he is the only one that works, saves money, and becomes rich by the end of the book because of his own ingenuity and efforts, but he is the only character to be shown in a negative manner. To work and succeed is almost disgraceful in this book, as the only worthy families are people from the First Families who are too rich to debase themselves by caring about money.
Absolute rubbish. No wonder it took America, even after so much talk and debates and riots, STILL hasn’t fully come into terms with being fully accepting of other races.
Like every era, it’s going to be some melodramatic, nostalgic bullshit. Novel is dramatization of the American Civil War, but not the good parts of the fighting and the killing, but the romances. And romantic books are shitty today, but way shittier back then. The setting is Southern America, and that’s another bad news, but that’s not all, focus it on the rich Southern gentleman and lady folks and its terrible melodramatic, hypocritical, sappy turd that I would have assumed would only be enjoyed by bored housewives, but since it is a bestseller, I guess men and woman both loved this tripe.
The book is a bit of historical importance because as I read the book, it seems no lessons at all were learned by the forced freeing of slaves in the South. There are some debates about slaves in the books, with both sides given some space to discuss it, but the way the author writes the black slaves makes it obvious that the real idea of black people having the RIGHT to be free doesn’t really enter the American mindset. All the slaves speak in such heavy dialects that I could barely understand what I was reading, and none of them were at all concerned or interested in being set free. They seemed happy enough to be slaves of their masters, and given that the book was a bestseller four decades after the end of the Civil War means that the average person doesn’t think differently. The idea of Southern honor and dignity also falls flat in my opinion. It’s easy to be a good host when one has all their work done by slaves. It is also easy for the rich, spoilt, white lily girl to look down on people who always talk about making money when the girl herself never had to work a day in her life. Which brings me to my final point. The only character in this book who is interesting is only main character that doesn’t come from an important family and he is the only one that works, saves money, and becomes rich by the end of the book because of his own ingenuity and efforts, but he is the only character to be shown in a negative manner. To work and succeed is almost disgraceful in this book, as the only worthy families are people from the First Families who are too rich to debase themselves by caring about money.
Absolute rubbish. No wonder it took America, even after so much talk and debates and riots, STILL hasn’t fully come into terms with being fully accepting of other races.
January 23, 2019
The only reason I know about this book is that my father occasionally complained about how much he hated it when he read it in a high school class. So, decades later, I had to see if it was as awful as he claimed. Turns out it's not bad. I feel like it had some legitimate insight into how people thought about friendship, slavery, and politics as the Civil War approached. On the negative side, it's a lot longer than it needs to be, and the number of chance meetings eventually becomes excessive. (Only Charles Dickens can pull that off, apparently.) I'm glad I read it, but I'm not going to aggressively seek out other books by the same author.
Concept 79/100. Execution 61/100.
Concept 79/100. Execution 61/100.
August 6, 2008
By the American Winston Churchill, an excellent Civil War novel I read and loved in high school.
October 18, 2011
The history is detailed and sound, the drama is soap operatic and the author is frequently, shockingly racist. Somehow the book still pulls the reader along. Maybe because it's so awkward?
June 1, 2015
Very good piece of fiction which is not a genre I usually read but this was really good.
February 10, 2017
A Civil War novel, written when many of its readers still remembered the conflict, with often-overlooked perspectives regarding Abraham Lincoln and other figures of the era.
January 4, 2025
Once I got past the pitfalls seeming inherent in a lot of turn of the century writing [the turn of the 20th century, that is] (writing Black dialogue in a phonetic dialect, and even doing the same for a few overtly Southern Whites; talking about ideas, concepts, and situations in a way that still seem heavily racist today, but might have come across as more progressive or enlightened 125 years ago), I found Churchill (no, he's not that Winston Churchill...) to be an exceptional writer. He has a way of making a story set in an era fraught with deeply studied historical facts and events into a novel that is really all about personal tales. Some of this may be due to the setting (Missouri, St. Luis) being the same place that Churchill came from. Even the historic characters (Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, etc., who are really side characters in The Crisis) come across as personal figures, not rigid textbook figures. They could have even been written as invented characters, if Churchill wanted to. In more than one chapter, Churchill ended things in a way that very much reminded me of how several of Ken Burns's film scripts are written. That is, he took a big-picture situation and then, in closing, turned to focus on the more personal, acute, and catalytic crux of the matter at hand, delivering a terse statement that summed up a singular moment, one that would eventually lead on to a future chapter.
Although the ending is too sentimental for my tastes, and the final romantic elements felt forced, for the large majority of The Crisis, it's great writing. One of the more interesting things, reading this book now, as opposed to 125 years ago, is that we get a picture of that time in America in which it was coming to terms with the Civil War and trying to move forward. This period of reconciliation is evident in many of the parts towards the very end of the book. There are paragraphs that seem very peculiar reading them today, but make a lot more sense in situ. Although Churchill was born post-War, the actual Civil War was still within personal memory to many of the readers in 1901 and Reconstruction and the Gilded Age were known to the rest. We're far enough removed from that turn of the century that some of those thoughts and ideas are lost on us today. We should remember them for our own sake.
Although the ending is too sentimental for my tastes, and the final romantic elements felt forced, for the large majority of The Crisis, it's great writing. One of the more interesting things, reading this book now, as opposed to 125 years ago, is that we get a picture of that time in America in which it was coming to terms with the Civil War and trying to move forward. This period of reconciliation is evident in many of the parts towards the very end of the book. There are paragraphs that seem very peculiar reading them today, but make a lot more sense in situ. Although Churchill was born post-War, the actual Civil War was still within personal memory to many of the readers in 1901 and Reconstruction and the Gilded Age were known to the rest. We're far enough removed from that turn of the century that some of those thoughts and ideas are lost on us today. We should remember them for our own sake.
January 15, 2018
I really took my time on this one and it really just dragged out. It wasn’t all that exciting and I found it very easy to put down and do... literally anything else. It’s a Civil War novel like Pearl Harbor is a WWII movie - a corny and unrealistic love story set during armed conflict. I did find it interesting as a study of the mindset of Americans in the 1900s and how the author, and likely many other Americans, viewed the Civil War at that time. Though I don’t think it’s fair to judge past works based on the standards of our own time, it was disappointing that the author never provided or even acknowledged perspectives from the black characters. It is so clearly a pro-northern book, but at the same time does not ever really come across as anti-slavery. It romanticizes the Southern perspective and portrays almost all characters as honorable, never really unpacking slavery itself. With few exceptions, the women characters are weak and in my opinion, poorly written. Again, I understand it based on the time it was written, but it’s tough to completely ignore it and frankly I feel the story would have been better had women and slaves been portrayed in a more realistic way. I would recommend it as a glimpse into perspectives of the past, but apart from that aspect, I found it lacking.
November 9, 2018
That Winston Churchill wrote a novel about events leading up to the American Civil War? Indeed he did in 1901. I read it 96 years later. It takes place in 1850s-1860s Missouri with four principal characters: Jinny, a Southern Belle from a traditonal Southern family; her unprincipaled cousin who spouts "the cause" as a means to win Jinny's approval; Stephen, a lawyer with Boston roots whose for Abraham Lincoln's cause gives Jinny pause; and Eliphalet, an earnest clerk with social and monetary ambitions. The story includes real life figures entwined in the lifes of the characters incuding Grant, Sherman and Lincoln. The story centers around the transformative power of suffering and the empathy it can bring. I enjoyed it and hope someday to read more from this man whose talents extended beyond the oratory to the pen.
June 7, 2018
It took me ten years to get back to this book because it was misplaced in a flurry of many moves. This writing is not accredited to Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, which I actually discovered early in the reading, but that doesn't take away from the form and punch of the book whatsoever. Winston Churchill of St. Louis has crafted a realism and view of a maturing and learning Abraham Lincoln and events leading up to the Civil War unlike any I'd expected. The depiction of North vs South territories, mindsets, and portrayals of Ulysses S. Grant as well as Lincoln's utmost 'Crisis" is prescient even with a 1901 publication.
June 30, 2021
There are a couple of things you have to be able to do in order to read historical fiction. The first thing is, you have to accept that these fictional characters are going to have chance encounters with a lot more real people than would be possible. Once you get past that, you get a nice glimpse at what Missouri was like during the Civil War. There's a lot about Lincoln, which I liked, but most of this is pulp that isn't necessary.
December 2, 2017
The Civil War. Fiction written in early 1900's. Vantage of contemporaries. People sat in their buggies watching the battles in the distance.
May 14, 2008
The best book I've ever read about Abraham Lincoln, in the same sense that the novel "Ben Hur" is about Jesus Christ. The American author Winston Churcill (NOT Winston S. Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain) portrays Lincoln as being the sacrifice America had to pay to redeem it from the sin of slavery.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
May 14, 2008
The best book I've ever read about Abraham Lincoln, in the same sense that the novel "Ben Hur" is about Jesus Christ. The American author Winston Churcill (NOT Winston S. Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain) portrays Lincoln as being the sacrifice America had to pay to redeem it from the sin of slavery.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
May 14, 2008
The best book I've ever read about Abraham Lincoln, in the same sense that the novel "Ben Hur" is about Jesus Christ. The American author Winston Churcill (NOT Winston S. Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain) portrays Lincoln as being the sacrifice America had to pay to redeem it from the sin of slavery.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
The author, Winston Churchill, chose to set the action in his home town of St. Louis, because that was the site of pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War, with historically prominent citizens having both Northern and Southern sympathies. St. Louis was also the pre-war home of both Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, who are depicted with drama and realism.
Romantic tension develops between the four main characters: one the fashionable daughter of a southern gentleman of the old school, another her n'er-do-well cousin who becomes a stalwart cavalier in the Southern cause trying to earn her approval, the third an earnest young lawyer from Boston who antagonizes her by his zeal for Abraham Lincoln's cause, and the fourth a hard-working clerk with ambitions to advance himself financially and socially.
The "crisis" of the title is provoked by Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the extension of slavery, and the power of his personal integrity to win people to his cause, including the young lawyer, who becomes a devoted admirer and proponent after being given a personal interview on the eve of the Freeport debate between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This meeting depicts Lincoln's determination to advance the cause of freedom through the possible (and likely) sacrifice of his own political ambitions, and is related with a very believable combination of rustic humor and political acumen on Lincoln's part.
The events prior to Lincoln’s nomination and his eventual election to the Presidency elicit different reactions among the citizens of St. Louis, from the determined antipathy of the Southern sympathizers, to the equally determined patriotism of the population of German immigrants who have fled from their homeland and whose devotion to liberty has caused them to transfer their allegiance to the ideal of American democracy. One of them is a fellow lawyer who bears the scar of a duel fought with broadswords between himself and an arrogant German noble; a duel based on an actual incident in Berlin.
Although the personal rivalries follow an almost soap opera style formula, the overall events of the war from the perspective of St. Louis and the Western theater are dramatically depicted with well-researched authenticity, and both Grant and Sherman are depicted as having a personal involvement in the lives of the main characters. A pivotal moment in the heroine's life is presented through her transformation from being self-centered and self-absorbed to becoming self-sacrificing and dedicated to easing the suffering of those around her. This is represented as a Christian metaphor for the way that God uses challenges to mould a person's character.
Eventually she and the young lawyer find themselves meeting Lincoln together to try to save her cousin's life, and they each experience Lincoln's power to bring about a reconciliation between them, just before the national reconciliation which Lincoln proposed between the North and the South would be aborted by John Wilkes Booth's bullet.
This novel is a story about Abraham Lincoln in the same sense that the novel Ben Hur is "a tale of the Christ," in that Lincoln only appears twice, for a total of about two dozen pages, but his philosophy is a dynamic presence throughout the story. As a side note: General Lew Wallace wrote the novel Ben Hur partly as a way to revive his reputation in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, in which his division played an undistinguished role, marching and countermarching futilely the first day of the battle, the aftermath of which left Sherman so discouraged that he remarked to Grant, "They sure whupped us today!" To which Grant replied, "Yep. We'll whup them tomorrow," and they did.
In his post-script, the author offers this apology for supporting Lincoln's point of view, by explaining, "Lincoln loved both the South and the North."
I found The Crisis by accident, thinking it was "The World Crisis" by the British Winston "S." Churchill, and was pleasantly surprized by it. I enjoyed it so much that I even recorded it in 50-minute installments for my local "Golden Hours" radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners.
August 31, 2015
This is one of the best books I have read this year. I put the book in the bathroom so I would only read a chapter at a time once halfway through - it is one of those books I did not want to end too soon. I love the style, vocabulary, plot, history, characters, and charm of the era when and where the story takes place as well as the author's talent when he writes The Crisis at the turn of twentieth century.
The language of that time in this fictional history maintains the story's integrity and is not intended to offend, at all. Winston Churchill, himself, a native of St. Louis, incorporates the feelings, beliefs, and mores through the characters' interactions. These characters include both strong-willed, admirable men and women along with the self-important, deprived, and greedy.
The story begins before the Civil War in the considered American West, St. Louis, Missouri, and Illinois. St. Louis is a blend of Southerners and Northerners with the protagonist, a new arrival from Boston, and a flavor of immigrants from Germany. The community's distinguishing elders from both sides are congenial with one another but each have fervent opinions and loyalties when it comes to Union or Confederate. A much reviled and loved character emerges from Illinois; one who sees both sides of the inevitable calamity, who decisively follows his heart in burdensome times evidenced by his love of God and country. This man is Abraham Lincoln.
The story's palpable love interest piques the imagination with the reserved manner of the courting etiquette appropriate for these times. One woman, Virginia, a major character, is the desire of most men who lay eyes upon her but she dictates who is worthy. Her emotional fluctuations poignantly intertwine with the theme of the book, thus, both sides, North and South, unfold in the telling of her suitors' escapades. The best of the human spirit, the noblest qualities of men and women under the duress of war fill the bulk of the plot. The story ends after the Civil War but the story's memory lingers. The Crisis is written in an elegance that captures moments seen through Churchill's vision for every reader's pleasure.
The language of that time in this fictional history maintains the story's integrity and is not intended to offend, at all. Winston Churchill, himself, a native of St. Louis, incorporates the feelings, beliefs, and mores through the characters' interactions. These characters include both strong-willed, admirable men and women along with the self-important, deprived, and greedy.
The story begins before the Civil War in the considered American West, St. Louis, Missouri, and Illinois. St. Louis is a blend of Southerners and Northerners with the protagonist, a new arrival from Boston, and a flavor of immigrants from Germany. The community's distinguishing elders from both sides are congenial with one another but each have fervent opinions and loyalties when it comes to Union or Confederate. A much reviled and loved character emerges from Illinois; one who sees both sides of the inevitable calamity, who decisively follows his heart in burdensome times evidenced by his love of God and country. This man is Abraham Lincoln.
The story's palpable love interest piques the imagination with the reserved manner of the courting etiquette appropriate for these times. One woman, Virginia, a major character, is the desire of most men who lay eyes upon her but she dictates who is worthy. Her emotional fluctuations poignantly intertwine with the theme of the book, thus, both sides, North and South, unfold in the telling of her suitors' escapades. The best of the human spirit, the noblest qualities of men and women under the duress of war fill the bulk of the plot. The story ends after the Civil War but the story's memory lingers. The Crisis is written in an elegance that captures moments seen through Churchill's vision for every reader's pleasure.
September 6, 2016
The Crisis was the best selling book of 1901, and deservedly so. The story covers about fifteen years of American history from the repeal of the Missouri Compromise to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The story captured the tenor of the times of the times, representing well the passions and struggles of the common people preceding and during the Civil War; including the breaking up of families and old friendships.
Even though the writing style was that of the nineteenth century, the book is exceedingly enjoyable and engaging for the modern reader. There are some passages; particularly, those in which Lincoln was a character in the book, which were particularly well written. You could feel the passion the author had for the sixteenth president.
This is a book well worth reading. I had a hard time putting the book down.
Incidentally, this is not the same Winston S. Churchill who became the prime minister of England.
Even though the writing style was that of the nineteenth century, the book is exceedingly enjoyable and engaging for the modern reader. There are some passages; particularly, those in which Lincoln was a character in the book, which were particularly well written. You could feel the passion the author had for the sixteenth president.
This is a book well worth reading. I had a hard time putting the book down.
Incidentally, this is not the same Winston S. Churchill who became the prime minister of England.
April 12, 2014
I had never heard of this author and am forever grateful for the reading challenge who introduced him to me. Just as I am grateful to this author for introducing me to this side of Abraham Lincoln.
Moving...maybe not always accurate in historical detail and certainly no shred of political correctness, this is an honest book. A look at a time in America's history when it's still fresh in the memory of the readers. To me that is where the wonder of this book lies - in how the author has shown the Civil War and portrayed it so well in a place so full of conflicting politics - and conflicting emotions.
I wish I had more time to think this review through. Later maybe I will edit it. But I was well-pleased and looking forward to Mr. Churchill's other books.
Moving...maybe not always accurate in historical detail and certainly no shred of political correctness, this is an honest book. A look at a time in America's history when it's still fresh in the memory of the readers. To me that is where the wonder of this book lies - in how the author has shown the Civil War and portrayed it so well in a place so full of conflicting politics - and conflicting emotions.
I wish I had more time to think this review through. Later maybe I will edit it. But I was well-pleased and looking forward to Mr. Churchill's other books.
February 17, 2016
I enjoyed this glimpse of history. Two of my favorite morals from it:
"A miracle had changed Virginia. He poise, her gentleness, her dignity, were the effects people saw. Her force people felt. And this is why we cannot of ourselves add one cubit to our stature. It is God who changes,--who cleanses us of our levity with the fire of trial. Happy, thrice happy, those whom He chasteneth."
And, "What was that upon the sleeper's face from which they drew back? A smile? Yes, and a light. The divine light which is shed upon those who have lived for others, who have denied themselves the lusts of the flesh."
"A miracle had changed Virginia. He poise, her gentleness, her dignity, were the effects people saw. Her force people felt. And this is why we cannot of ourselves add one cubit to our stature. It is God who changes,--who cleanses us of our levity with the fire of trial. Happy, thrice happy, those whom He chasteneth."
And, "What was that upon the sleeper's face from which they drew back? A smile? Yes, and a light. The divine light which is shed upon those who have lived for others, who have denied themselves the lusts of the flesh."
October 13, 2014
Very instructive in what life might have been like before Lincoln became President. I don't pretend to be a historian, so don't know the historical accuracy of the book, but also didn't find anything that was at odds with what I have learned.
I also (in my ignorance) thought the historical novel to be a recent invention, but this was written in 1901 and fits squarely into that category.
Well worth the time, and this book has put me in search of others by this Winston Churchill (an American from St. Louis, not the one who became Prime Minister of England.)
I also (in my ignorance) thought the historical novel to be a recent invention, but this was written in 1901 and fits squarely into that category.
Well worth the time, and this book has put me in search of others by this Winston Churchill (an American from St. Louis, not the one who became Prime Minister of England.)
July 10, 2014
This book () is long but one of the great American classics. It tells the story of life and love during the Civil War, from a different perspective than what is normally presented.
If you want a 'fresh' view on the American Civil War, then get this book and read it, you will not be disappointed.
If you want a 'fresh' view on the American Civil War, then get this book and read it, you will not be disappointed.
September 11, 2014
Difficult to read, I thought, probably because I have not read any really old books in a long while. The language and style take some getting used to. I did not finish it but plan to work on it again soon. Interesting that this book was a best seller near the beginning of the 20th century and set in St. Louis.
August 5, 2014
Except for thinking that I was going to be reading something by the man I later learned always wrote under the name Winston S Churchill, this was an enjoyable book. Makes me want to read more about some of the historical characters portrayed herein. Several good moral statements, even if it is a well worn story type.
November 11, 2014
Revisionist history at its finest. Cheesy love story built around the American Civil War as experienced in St. Louis, full of one dimensional characters, Forrest Gump quality coincidences and happy slaves that love their masters.
Important to read only to see how time changes the view of a war and to see how racism is casually found in popular literature.
Important to read only to see how time changes the view of a war and to see how racism is casually found in popular literature.
June 14, 2013
The first book by this author that I have read and what an excellent read. Churchill draws you in and you can feel the pride and pain that was felt during the most trying time in our nation’s history.
September 16, 2015
A good book based during the Civil War. Takes place in St. Louis and includes a lot of St. Louis history, including the role of German settlers and a look at the way the city was divided between confederates and rebels.
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