Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186775 in Books
• Published on: 1993-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 368 pages

Customer Reviews

A deeply moving experience - a real insight
It was after being shown the film "Gettysburg" in August 1997 I first heard of Joshua Lawrence Chamnberlain and the 20 Maine. I found the film very moving, and the serious, very human and very sensitive character of Chamberlain (played by Jeff Daniels) a very appealing figure - a true leader, a man who could inspire the best from others, a man of courage and integrity.

I wanted to find out more, to discover the real Joshua Chamberlain. To my delight, I found he had written a personal account of his life with the Army of the Potomac. Unbelievably - "The Passing of the Armies" was now available in the UK.

I was overwhelmed by this book, a poem in prose, a beautiful command of language and emotion, sensitive and deeply felt. It helped me understand a little of what the American Civil War did mean and how men could endure such agony and danger.

The book is an incredibly personal account of the last days before Appomattox, followed by a almost mystical account of the last review of the battered but triumphant Army of the Potomac. The language is very romantic, very foreign to twentieth century ears, but Joshua Chamberlain was there, he risked everything, valued people, he saw the deaths and felt the loss. Wounded six times, he was once given up for dead after being shot through both hips by a musket ball while leading a charge at Petersburg in 1864.

He was a good man, an inspiring man, with a wonderful self-deprecating humour, as shown when he describes falling in a muddy river along with his horse. Raymond Chandler wrote a line for his creation Philip Marlowe which I feel is very appropriate for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - "If there were enough like him, the world would be a very safe place to live in, and yet not too dull to be worth living in."

I went on to read "In the Hands of Providence" by Alice Rains Trulock, the latest biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain which I would recommend to anyone.

An inspiring account with a minor flaw.
The Passing of the Armies offers readers the opportunity to experience the trials and triumphs of the Civil War through the personal recollections of an authentic American hero. However, it is my opinion that the introduction by Brooks D. Simpson serves to disrupt the first hand experiences of Joshua Chamberlain by calling into question Chamberlain's accuracy of events and his personal motives. Passing of the Armies should stand as one man's first hand account of his life, leaving his critics to write their own book.

Unequaled Eloquence In Revisiting The Horrors of Battle
There can be little doubt about it; this book is a 300 page poem. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the school teacher from Maine who rose to Brevet Major-General, wounded six times in battle, and commanded the surrender ceremony at Appomattox, effortlessly composed, in the waning years of his life, one of the most beautifully-written Civil War reminicenses ever written. You will feel every emotion Chamberlain felt, because it cannot be helped- his writing is irresistable, it is as understated and dignified as he was, both in battle and in life. It is truly wonderful.