by Chester G. Hearn
I warned you guys that there would be a lot of Civil War books on here. I'm reading one more now which I'm hoping will be the last one for awhile. Since I'm already pretty immersed in writing my novel, I'm hoping that I've gotten most of the research out of the way by now.
I really liked this one. It amused me in addition to teaching me a lot. I think Benjamin Butler was a fascinating person and I would love to read more about him. While the book left me applauding some of the things he did, I think it did a pretty fair job of providing an objective perspective. Butler did a lot of good things but he was also extremely corrupt. He amassed huge amounts of money which seem to have appeared out of thin air.
On the other hand, he was unusually aware of the needs of the poor. He was furious with the wealthy Southerners who were fighting this war at the expense of the poor and the slaves. Seems kind of hypocritical for a man who spent his life using illegal means to hoard disgusting amounts of money, if you ask me. But hey, he did act to help the poor, which is more than the rich plantation owners ever did, so I guess he wasn't all bad.
All in all, I think this was a great book to teach one about taking everything with a grain of salt. Having finished it, I don't feel comfortable labeling Benjamin Butler as a good guy or a bad guy. He falls pretty heavily into the gray area.
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