• William Tecumseh Sherman

  • In the Service of My Country: A Life
  • By: James Lee McDonough
  • Narrated by: David Drummond
  • Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,427 ratings)

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William Tecumseh Sherman  By  cover art

William Tecumseh Sherman

By: James Lee McDonough
Narrated by: David Drummond
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Publisher's summary

General Sherman's 1864 burning of Atlanta solidified his legacy as a ruthless leader. Yet Sherman proved far more complex than his legendary military tactics reveal. James Lee McDonough offers fresh insight into a man tormented by the fear that history would pass him by, who was plagued by personal debts, and who lived much of his life separated from his family.

As a soldier, Sherman evolved from a spirited student at West Point into a general who steered the Civil War's most decisive campaigns, rendered here in graphic detail. Lamenting casualties, Sherman sought the war's swift end by devastating Southern resources in the Carolinas and on his famous March to the Sea. This meticulously researched biography explores Sherman's warm friendship with Ulysses S. Grant, his strained relationship with his wife, Ellen, and his unassuageable grief over the death of his young son, Willy. The result is a remarkable, comprehensive life of an American icon whose legacy resonates to this day.

©2016 James Lee McDonough (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"McDonough has produced an exhaustive biography told with considerable narrative skill." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about William Tecumseh Sherman

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very Fair and Balanced View of Sherman

I just finished listening to this book after having listened to the RA White biography of Ulysses Grant (American Ulysses- available from Audible). I found this biography to be superior to that of the Grant biography simply because McDonough took the time to objectively present Sherman not just as a hero but also as a human being who had many of the flaws that seem to haunt great men and are often overlooked in their biographies. In Sherman's case, these flaws included his prejudice against African Americans, his hatred of the press and politicians, his nervous disposition and his aversion to being a commanding general (which resulted in his disgrace following a brief command of the Army of Ohio early in the War) and his anti-Catholicism. The author did a great job of sketching these flaws and also presenting the opinions of other scholars in evaluating Sherman as both the man and the general. By the time I finished listening to the book, I actually felt that I knew Sherman as a man and not just as a Civil War hero. David Drummond's narration of the book was very good.

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55 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent biography

William Tecumseh Sherman has always struck me as being the most interesting and complex of those Civil War generals who fought for the Union. Highly intelligent, strong willed and sure of himself, yet not so conceited as to want a high command in the war. Completely apolitical, yet put in a position that would easily have ended up allowing him to gain high political office.

This biography covers all parts of his life thoroughly, but not in such detail as to become boring. Sherman, wanting military glory, was assigned to California during the Mexican war and so missed the opportunity he longed for to gain fame as a soldier. Born into a poor family, but raised by wealthy and influential friends he ended up never making enough money to satisfy his family's needs, yet also never stooped to dishonest or even unethical means to make a living. Constantly in need of money he also remained honest to the core, and in a world that was generally thoroughly corrupt.

While Sherman is mostly known for his generalship during the last years of the Civil War this book does not spend an inordinate time on those campaigns, but does cover all of his fighting before and after being assigned to Grant where his expertise, his ability to train and wield his soldiers and his logistics blossomed and made him one of the most effective generals of either side in the fighting. Yet this biography also covers his early Army career, his work as a banker, his family life, his failures early in the Civil War, the period in which he was considered to have lost his mind and his close friendship with Grant, the fighting during the Indian Wars after the end of the Civil War and his life after he retired.

At more than 28 hours this is a fairly long book, but never so long as to become boring. The narration is not inspired, but is adequate to the task and the writing is so good that it constantly kept my attention and kept me from concurrently reading another book, which I sometimes do when I become even a little bored with a book. With a better narrator this would be a truly outstanding book. As it is, I still recommend it for anyone interested in learning about the Civil War in the West and how the Union ended up winning the war in spite of all of the bad generalship in the East.

In the end the Union found 3 excellent generals - Grant, Sherman and Sheridan - and this book gave me great insight into one of those three.

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19 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable

This book is well researched and spans General Sherman's entire life. It also blends in a lot of intuitive thinking by the author, who know his subject well. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned a great deal about this most complicated man who became an icon of the great conflict that befell this nation in 1861. Recommended without reservation.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Book is great narrator is grating

Well written and
Chock full of information
Narrator is dull with no inflection
Spoiled the book for me

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • CJ
  • 09-14-16

Great Book

fun book about the life of an interesting yet flawed man. presented in a straightforward manner with great references and a compelling subject.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

We can always learn more about the Civil War.

Sherman is refreshingly brought to life in this remarkable narrative history. His maturation as a general and a leader is exemplified. The nature of all out war is demonstrated in his March through the South and the role it played in ending the war.
This book should be read by anyone seeking an additional perspective on the horrendous Civil War.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Naration sounds synthesized and very monotone.

Good history. but naration had almost no inflection, very tough to stay engaged for any length of time.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An Engaging if Incomplete Story

I really loved this book. While I'm a huge fan of Sherman's, he is for many a controversial figure. McDonough points out that Sherman's own memoirs were so detailed and persuasive, however, that many historians have tended to accept his point of view without question. There are times McDonough seems to fall into this trap in what is clearly a sympathetic portrayal. In the end, though, McDonough's portrait is complex and multifaceted. We can see the man of courage and integrity, but also a man who could be vain and authoritarian; a man of deep sensitivity whose sympathies never fully embraced non-whites. Throughout, McDonough's fascination with the man, his contradictions and his story, is contagious. His frequent use of quotations from Sherman's memoirs help make the journey more personal and intimate. This is not just a collection of events from Sherman's life, but a chronicle of the inner workings, passions, and opinions of the man as he experienced them. I found McDonough was able to make even periods of Sherman's life that were relatively bland - his peacetime military posts, being a banker in California - interesting and a joy to listen to. Much of this is due to the fact that Sherman was a passionate, opinionated person, who always had something on his mind and something to say. McDonough recognizes that these slow periods are just as valuable for revealing who Sherman was, and he mines them for all they're worth. Once we get to the Civil War, which for most will be the most interesting part of the book, we feel we are following someone we have grown to know, respect and like. That makes these sections all the more powerful. While the sections of the book covering the Civil War are strong, if there is a weakness here, it is that the March itself is not given the detailed study it deserves. Perhaps because this has been done elsewhere, but still, while hardly ignored, it certainly seems a subject that could have been handled in more depth. Overall, though, this is an engaging and enjoyable presentation of the life on one of America's most fascinating figures. Finally, I can't say enough good things about David Drummond's reading. Since Sherman is often quoted, a large part of his job is to play Sherman, and this he does flawlessly. As Sherman's quotes are often colorful and impassioned, a reading which failed to convey this rich personality would have been a failure. Drummond creates a vivid character which matches the words and afterwards I felt like I had, in a sense, met Sherman.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent.

interesting and pertinent info on the General, well presented. I learned a great deal, and I've read about the war extensively.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

n

Great narrator. I learned a great deal more than the usual caricature of him. I will look for more books from this narrator.


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6 people found this helpful