
On Great Fields
The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
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Narrated by:
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Ronald C. White
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By:
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Ronald C. White
About this listen
From the New York Times bestselling author of A. Lincoln and American Ulysses comes the dramatic and definitive biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the history-altering professor turned Civil War hero.
“A vital and vivid portrait of an unlikely military hero who played a key role in the preservation of the Union and therefore in the making of modern America.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of And There Was Light
Before 1862, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain had rarely left his home state of Maine, where he was a trained minister and mild-mannered professor at Bowdoin College. His colleagues were shocked when he volunteered for the Union army, but he was undeterred and later became known as one of the North’s greatest heroes: On the second day at Gettysburg, after running out of ammunition at Little Round Top, he ordered his men to wield their bayonets in a desperate charge down a rocky slope that routed the Confederate attackers. Despite being wounded at Petersburg—and told by two surgeons he would die—Chamberlain survived the war, going on to be elected governor of Maine four times and serve as president of Bowdoin College.
How did a stuttering young boy come to be fluent in nine languages and even teach speech and rhetoric? How did a trained minister find his way to the battlefield? Award-winning historian Ronald C. White delves into these contradictions in this cradle-to-grave biography of General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, from his upbringing in rural Maine to his tenacious, empathetic military leadership and his influential postwar public service, exploring a question that still plagues so many veterans: How do you make a civilian life of meaning after having experienced the extreme highs and lows of war?
Chamberlain is familiar to millions from Michael Shaara’s now-classic novel of the Civil War, The Killer Angels, and Ken Burns’s timeless miniseries The Civil War, but in this book, White captures the complex and inspiring man behind the hero. This gripping, impeccably researched portrait illuminates one of the most admired but least known figures in our nation’s bloodiest conflict.
©2023 Ronald C. White (P)2023 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“A vital and vivid portrait of an unlikely military hero who played a key role in the preservation of the Union and therefore in the making of modern America. From his bookish days as a professor at Bowdoin to the fields of Gettysburg, Joshua Chamberlain was a man of principle and of action, a surprising officer whose conviction and courage made all the difference. A marvelous book.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of And There Was Light
“This evocative biography of Joshua Chamberlain manages to be both dramatic and understated—like the great war hero himself. Readers hoping for a rousing account of Chamberlain’s heroics at Little Round Top will get not only a riveting, but a definitive, version of that battle-changing moment at Gettysburg. But White also opens a window onto the nineteenth-century worlds of military service, politics, and academia, which Chamberlain bestrode with a unique combination of drama and dignity fully reflected in the narrative.”—Harold Holzer, winner of the Lincoln Prize
“Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is one of the most famous soldiers who fought at the battle of Gettysburg. Ronald C. White chronicles that story and Chamberlain’s other Civil War exploits, but the distinguishing feature of this fine biography is its in-depth account of the varied achievements of this extraordinary American hero in a lifetime that ranged over more than eight decades.”—James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
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Voices from Gettysburg
- Letters, Papers, and Memoirs from the Greatest Battle of the Civil War
- By: Allen C. Guelzo
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Powerful, haunting, and unforgettable, this remarkable gathering of original documents, including never-before-published letters and papers, creates a day-by-day eyewitness account of the monumental collision at Gettysburg, in the words of the commanders, soldiers, politicians, and civilians from both the North and the South who experienced firsthand the changing course of the Civil War. New York Times bestselling and award-winning historian and author Allen C. Guelzo delivers an invaluable and sobering firsthand perspective of the Civil War’s turning point.
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Guidall's ability to read each character uniquely.
- By Nora Elaine on 11-18-24
By: Allen C. Guelzo
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Robert E. Lee
- A Life
- By: Allen C. Guelzo
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In Robert E. Lee, the award-winning historian Allen Guelzo has written the definitive biography of the general, following him from his refined upbringing in Virginia high society, to his long career in the U.S. Army, his agonized decision to side with Virginia when it seceded from the Union, and his leadership during the Civil War. Above all, Guelzo captures Robert E. Lee in all his complexity--his hypocrisy and courage, his outward calm and inner turmoil, his honor and his disloyalty.
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Unfortunately falls into judging Lee like CNN
- By Jeff B on 11-08-21
By: Allen C. Guelzo
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Lincoln in Private
- What His Most Personal Reflections Tell Us About Our Greatest President
- By: Ronald C. White
- Narrated by: Ronald C. White
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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A deeply private man, shut off even to those who worked closely with him, Abraham Lincoln often captured “his best thoughts", as he called them, in short notes to himself. He would work out his personal stances on the biggest issues of the day, never expecting anyone to see these pieces of writing, which he’d then keep close at hand, in desk drawers and even in his top hat. The profound importance of these notes has been overlooked, because the originals are scattered across several different archives and have never before been brought together and examined as a coherent whole.
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A Good One--Highly Recommend
- By Jeffy on 04-18-23
By: Ronald C. White
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Meade at Gettysburg
- A Study in Command
- By: Kent Masterson Brown
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Although he took command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the first shots were fired at Gettysburg, Union general George G. Meade guided his forces to victory in the Civil War's most pivotal battle. Commentators often dismiss Meade when discussing the great leaders of the Civil War. But in this long-anticipated book, Kent Masterson Brown draws on an expansive archive to reappraise Meade's leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg.
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Fantastic Book
- By Taylor Boulet on 04-14-22
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Custer's Trials
- A Life on the Frontier of a New America
- By: T.J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 23 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History. In this magisterial biography, T. J. Stiles paints a portrait of Custer both deeply personal and sweeping in scope, proving how much of Custer’s legacy has been ignored. He demolishes Custer’s historical caricature, revealing a volatile, contradictory, intense person - capable yet insecure, intelligent yet bigoted, passionate yet self-destructive, a romantic individualist at odds with the institution of the military (he was court-martialed twice in six years).
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Custer and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-17-15
By: T.J. Stiles
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A. Lincoln
- A Biography
- By: Ronald C. White Jr.
- Narrated by: Bill Weideman
- Length: 27 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In this important new biography, Ronald C. White, Jr. offers a fresh and fascinating definition of Lincoln as a man of integrity - what today's commentators are calling "authenticity" - whose internal moral compass is the key to understanding his life. Through meticulous research, utilizing recently discovered Lincoln letters, legal papers, and photographs, White depicts Lincoln as a person of intellectual curiosity, comfortable with ambiguity, and capable of changing his mind.
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Insight into Lincoln
- By Julieann on 02-17-10
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Vicksburg
- Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy
- By: Donald L. Miller
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 21 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Vicksburg, Mississippi, was the last stronghold of the Confederacy on the Mississippi River. It prevented the Union from using the river for shipping between the Union-controlled Midwest and New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. The Union navy tried to take Vicksburg, which sat on a high bluff overlooking the river, but couldn't do it. It took Grant's army and Admiral David Porter's navy to successfully invade Mississippi and lay siege to Vicksburg, forcing the city to surrender.
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Revisionist & Biased & Redundant
- By DDSC on 05-26-21
By: Donald L. Miller
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Shiloh
- A Novel
- By: Shelby Foote
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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This fictional recreation of the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 is a stunning work of imaginative history, from Shelby Foote, beloved historian of the Civil War. Shiloh conveys not only the bloody choreography of Union and Confederate troops through the woods near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, but the inner movements of the combatants' hearts and minds.
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Great so detailed
- By chris calabrese on 05-06-19
By: Shelby Foote
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The Unvanquished
- The Untold Story of Lincoln's Special Forces, the Manhunt for Mosby's Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America's Special Operations
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The Civil War is most remembered for the grand battles that have come to define it: Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, among others. However, as bestselling author Patrick K. O’Donnell reveals in The Unvanquished, a vital shadow war raged amid and away from the major battlefields that was in many ways equally consequential to the conflict’s outcome.
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Unbalanced
- By Zach on 01-15-25
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Righting the Longstreet Record at Gettysburg
- Six Matters of Controversy and Confusion
- By: Cory M. Pfarr
- Narrated by: Mike Hennessy
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Following up on the award-winning Longstreet at Gettysburg, this collection of new essays addresses some of the persistent questions regarding Confederate General James Longstreet's performance at the Battle of Gettysburg. Influential interpretations of his actions are evaluated for historical accuracy, drawing on often overlooked primary source material. Points of contention about Longstreet's July 2, 1863, attack are examined, along with the roots of the Longstreet-Gettysburg Controversy and the merits of Helen Longstreet's early 20th-century attempt to address it.
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Stop the “character” voices shtick
- By Brett Asselin on 02-16-24
By: Cory M. Pfarr
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Lincoln's Lieutenants
- The High Command of the Army of the Potomac
- By: Stephen W. Sears
- Narrated by: James Conlan
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The high command of the Army of the Potomac was a changeable, often dysfunctional band of brothers, going through the fires of war under seven commanding generals in three years, until Grant came east in 1864. The men in charge all too frequently appeared to be fighting against the administration in Washington instead of for it, increasingly cast as political pawns facing down a vindictive congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War.
By: Stephen W. Sears
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Military Memoirs of a Confederate
- By: Edward Porter Alexander
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most important and objective firsthand accounts of the Civil War. Unlike some other Confederate memoirists, General Edward Porter Alexander objectively evaluated and criticized prominent Confederate officers, including Robert E. Lee. The result is a clear-eyed assessment of the bloody conflict that divided but subsequently united the nation.
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The first one I may exchange
- By Brian on 05-27-20
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The Great Dissenter
- The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero
- By: Peter S. Canellos
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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They say that history is written by the victors. But not in the case of the most famous dissenter on the Supreme Court. Almost a century after his death, John Marshall Harlan’s words helped end segregation and gave us our civil rights and our modern economic freedom. But his legacy would not have been possible without the courage of Robert Harlan, a slave who John’s father raised like a son in the same household.
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A good and necessary book, BUT WHY THE BEEPS??!
- By aaron on 09-06-21
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Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard
- Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the “Commanding Ground” Along the Emmitsburg Road
- By: James A. Hessler, Britt C. Isenberg
- Narrated by: Bob Neufeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Licensed battlefield guide James Hessler has produced the most deeply-researched, full-length biography to appear on this remarkable American icon. No individual who fought at Gettysburg was more controversial, both personally and professionally, than Major General Daniel E. Sickles. For Civil War enthusiasts who want to understand General Sickles’ scandalous life, Gettysburg’s battlefield strategies, the in-fighting within the Army of the Potomac, and the development of today’s National Park will find Sickles at Gettysburg it is a must-listen.
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Exceptional Book
- By Jimbo on 04-07-21
By: James A. Hessler, and others
What listeners say about On Great Fields
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- Uncle Techy
- 04-20-24
Unknown facts on a Maine and Civil War hero. Very well written
Narrator never pronounced Bangor correctly. He called it Banger. Hard to listen to as a Mainer.
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-26-24
there was more to Chamberlain than Little Round Top. much more.
the narrator would at times read the text very softly where it became hard to hear
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- Darren Sapp
- 12-31-24
Great Bio
I loved this biography! White's writing is detailed but smooth. Thorough but not cumbersome. Educational and entertaining. This work is as much about Chamberlain's academic life as much as his Civil War heroics.
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- Parker
- 11-16-23
Worth your time
An truly enjoyable account of an extraordinary man. A man who believed he could help bridge the America that was and the America it could be, after the Civil War.
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- Montclair 65
- 02-10-24
Civil War Hero Comes to Life
Ronald C. White's wonderful biography of General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain brings to life this once forgotten but now celebrated Civil War hero who was also an outstanding Governor of Maine and President of Bowden College. And this story is greatly enhanced by Ronald C. White 's competing narration of his book.
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- Pt4Texas
- 11-15-23
A true American hero
After several trips to Gettysburg and Little Round Top, and after an annual watching for the last 15 years of the Gettysburg movie, Joshua Chamberlain is one of my favorite of all American heroes. He demonstrates the true nature of the hero, who, first and foremost, gives his utmost devotion to God, and secondly, his care and service to his fellow man
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1 person found this helpful
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- Evan
- 01-08-24
A Preacher Teacher Professor Policitiction and General.
Great book I strongly recommend the book of how a man that started in a small town in Maine that rose to become and one of the great heros of the Civil War that saved the second day of Gettysburg that little was known about until the movie Gettyburg and the PBS series on the Civil War. There is a lot more to his story than that that is was a great American
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- Brett Asselin
- 01-24-24
They did hold off the Alabamians a while, it wasn’t just a charge.
A few misplaced quotes on the action at little round top which could confuse the reader (listener) but the author offers balanced insight.
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- Bryant Brown
- 02-29-24
Great story - not great narrator
The narrator was so quiet and slow it was distracting. Even turning the volume up and speed, I found I was having to restart a lot and turn the volume up to the max. Really poor performance. I may buy it and read it to make amends.
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- Frankly Honest
- 04-02-24
The whole story
I have read many books on JLC but none have spanned the entire life of my hero as Ron White has with this book. We need men like JLC today! My only criticism is the reader’s pronunciation of Bangor. In Maine we call the city Bang-Gore. Hearing it pronounced like the city in Washington state was like nails on a chalkboard.
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1 person found this helpful