
A Worse Place than Hell
How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation
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Narrated by:
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David Colacci
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By:
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John Matteson
About this listen
Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Matteson illuminates three harrowing months of the Civil War and their enduring legacy for America.
December 1862 drove the United States toward a breaking point. The Battle of Fredericksburg shattered Union forces and Northern confidence. As Abraham Lincoln's government threatened to fracture, this critical moment also tested five extraordinary individuals whose lives reflect the soul of a nation. The changes they underwent led to profound repercussions in the country's law, literature, politics, and popular mythology. Taken together, their stories offer a striking restatement of what it means to be American.
Guided by patriotism, driven by desire, all five moved toward singular destinies. A young Harvard intellectual steeped in courageous ideals, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. confronted grave challenges to his concept of duty. The one-eyed army chaplain Arthur Fuller pitted his frail body against the evils of slavery. Walt Whitman, a gay Brooklyn poet condemned by the guardians of propriety, and Louisa May Alcott, a struggling writer seeking an authentic voice and her father's admiration, tended soldiers' wracked bodies as nurses. On the other side of the national schism, West Point cadet John Pelham achieved a unique excellence in artillery tactics as he served a doomed and misbegotten cause.
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"Lee Is Trapped, and Must Be Taken": Eleven Fateful Days After Gettysburg: July 4 to July 14, 1863 focuses on the immediate aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg and addresses how Maj. Gen. George G. Meade organized and motivated his Army of the Potomac in response to President Abraham Lincoln's mandate to bring about the "literal or substantial destruction" of Gen. Robert E. Lee's retreating Army of Northern Virginia.
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Detailed and Well Written
- By Ezekiel Z. Conover on 04-22-21
By: Thomas J. Ryan, and others
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Strange and Obscure Stories of the Civil War
- By: Tim Rowland
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Strange and Obscure Stories of the Civil War is an entertaining look at the Civil War stories that don’t get told, and the misadventures you haven’t read about in history books. Share in all the humorous and strange events that took place behind the scenes of some of the most famous Civil War moments.
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INTERESTING & FUNNY
- By The Louligan on 08-01-14
By: Tim Rowland
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The Impending Crisis
- America Before the Civil War: 1848-1861
- By: David M. Potter, Don E. Fehrenbacher
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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David M. Potter's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Impending Crisis is the definitive history of antebellum America. Potter's sweeping epic masterfully charts the chaotic forces that climaxed with the outbreak of the Civil War: westward expansion, the divisive issue of slavery, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's uprising, the ascension of Abraham Lincoln, and the drama of Southern secession.
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A Slog for Sure
- By Brux on 04-13-17
By: David M. Potter, and others
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Pickett's Charge
- A New Look at Gettysburg's Final Attack
- By: Phillip Thomas Tucker PhD
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Pickett's Charge is a detailed analysis of one of the most iconic and defining events in American history. This book presents a much-needed fresh look, including the unvarnished truths and ugly realities, about the unforgettable story. With the luxury of hindsight, historians have long denounced the folly of Lee's attack, but this work reveals the tactical brilliance of a master plan that went awry. Special emphasis is placed on the common soldiers on both sides, especially the non-Virginia attackers outside of Pickett's Virginia Division.
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Worst CW book ever. Can't rate it low enough. It deserves negative 5 stars in all categories
- By rbergen on 05-10-18
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Voices from the Confederacy
- True Civil War Stories from the Men and Women of the Old South
- By: Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.
- Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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They say history is written by the victors. In the case of the Civil War, that's largely true. But historian Samuel Mitcham brings the Southern point of view to life in Voices from the Confederacy. In it, you will learn about the heroic, the scoundrels, the clever, the vanquished, and the hungry. Rich or poor, black or white, Voices from the Confederacy shares hundreds of poignant and revealing moments during the war between the states.
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Enjoying
- By Anonymous User on 07-07-24
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The Fall of the House of Dixie
- The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South
- By: Bruce Levine
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The J. G. Randall Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Illinois and associate editor of North and South magazine, Bruce Levine presents a gripping chronicle of the cultural and economic upheaval the South experienced during and after the Civil War. Drawing upon a treasure trove of diaries, letters, newspaper articles, and government documents, Levine offers a unique perspective on the old South's demise through the voices of those who lived through the conflict.
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Merely ok. . .
- By Steve E. on 03-19-13
By: Bruce Levine
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Abraham Lincoln
- A Presidential Life
- By: James McPherson
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In this compelling biography, McPherson follows Abraham Lincoln from his early frontier days to his turbulent years in the White House. This concise yet comprehensive account reveals why Lincoln still remains a quintessential American icon.
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In depth
- By Pat on 04-23-12
By: James McPherson
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Master of War
- The Life of General George H. Thomas
- By: Benson Bobrick
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In this revelatory, dynamic biography, Benson Bobrick, profiles George H. Thomas, arguing that he was the greatest and most successful general of the Civil War. Because Thomas didn't live to write his memoirs, his reputation has been largely shaped by others, most notably Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, two generals with whom Thomas served and who diminished his successes in their favor in their own memoirs.
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Nutshell: Grant, Sherman bad – Thomas good
- By Dereck on 11-18-10
By: Benson Bobrick
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Sherman's March
- The First Full-Length Narrative of General William T. Sherman's Devastating March Through Georgia and the Carolinas
- By: Burke Davis
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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In November 1864, just days after the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln, General William T. Sherman vowed to "make Georgia howl." The hero of Shiloh and his 65,000 Federal troops destroyed the great city of Atlanta, captured Savannah, and cut a wide swath of destruction through Georgia and the Carolinas on their way to Virginia. A scorched-earth campaign that continues to haunt the Southern imagination, Sherman's "March to the Sea" and ensuing drive north was a crucial turning point in the War between the States.
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This is fiction, not history.
- By Anonymous User on 11-25-19
By: Burke Davis
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The Great Battle Never Fought: The Mine Run Campaign, November 26-December 2, 1863
- Emerging Civil War Series
- By: Chris Mackowski
- Narrated by: Chris Mackowski
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The stakes for George Gordon Meade could not have been higher. After his stunning victory at Gettysburg in July of 1863, the Union commander spent the following months trying to bring the Army of Northern Virginia to battle once more and finish the job. The Great Battle Never Fought: The Mine Run Campaign, November 26-December 2 1863 recounts the final chapter of the forgotten fall of 1863 - when George Gordon Meade made one final attempt to save the Union and, in doing so, save himself.
By: Chris Mackowski
What listeners say about A Worse Place than Hell
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-31-24
Beautifully Artistic.
This is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. It's not a war story, but a human story ,which incidentally, is the best way to tell a war story. I can't say enough good things about this book
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- Peter H. Christensen
- 09-02-21
Fantastic Intertwining!
You will enjoy this intertwining of great Americans. It will inspire and touch your heart.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anthony W. Baugher
- 06-28-23
Very good!
Amazing that all those lives were around the same time period. Never again has it happened that we were blessed with such.
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- Jason
- 07-15-21
Brilliant
Fantastic stories and fantastic research.. all I can really say is this is an instant classic.
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- Matthew P Wood
- 12-02-23
Great contrast
I absolutely love how the story wove these individuals into a story that was compellingly connected.
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- marc edge
- 04-19-24
Fantastic Story
What a fantastic story! The weaving together of these 5 lives intertwined in and around the end of the Battle of Sharpsburg meeting together and affected by the December battle at Fredericksburg. Soldiers and non combatants woven together in a story of the American Civil War.
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