One is that as an entry in the Oxford History series it focuses almost exclusively on the Civil War itself. There are two major problems with this work. Of course, that project would be one in which several historians, specialists in researching various aspects of the Civil War, would rival any history of the war to this date. The downside was that it was only an overview, not a detailed in depth series of volumes on every aspect of the war. McPherson, a lifelong student of the Civil War, managed to compile an outstanding overview of the lead up to the conflict as well as what happened during the war in 900 pages. At the time of its release, Battle Cry was immediately acclaimed at the definitive one volume work on the Civil War.
James McPherson, George Henry Davis '86 Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University, won a Pulitzer Prize for penning this outstanding contribution to American Civil War history. This volume of the Oxford History of the United States came out in 1988 and was the second volume to be published in the series. I would recommend first reading through the preceding volumes in the Oxford History of the United States series, however, in order to get a greater sense of the sweep of history.
If you just want to read a one-volume history of the Civil War, this is your book. The only thing I found unfortunate about the book was that McPherson dignified the Republican fearmongering about a "Slave Power" (this was never a possibility and was nothing more than propaganda) and heavily sanitized/rationalized the brutality of Sherman's campaigns in Georgia and South Carolina (perhaps they were necessary to win the war, but they should still be presented fully). McPherson, contrary to some historians who smear the South as un-American, recognizes that it was indeed the North which was, for good or evil, "revolutionizing" America and the South which was, also for good or evil, "countering" that revolution. His thesis - that the North and the South were both fighting for what they believed American freedom meant - is powerful, and should give pause to those who paint either side as the devil. Most impressive is how McPherson brings all of the complex political, cultural, social, economic, and military events of the war era into one coherent, concise narrative. Needless to say, it is a masterpiece of history. Everything that can be said about this book has already been said before.
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