The Wars of the Roses; which tore apart the ruling Plantagenet family in fifteenth-century England; was truly a domestic drama; as fraught and intimate as any family feud before or since. But as acclaimed historian Sarah Gristwood reveals; while the events of this turbulent time are usually described in terms of the men who fought and died seeking the throne; a handful of powerful women would prove just as decisive as their kinfolks' clashing armies. A richly drawn; absorbing epic; Blood Sisters reveals how women helped to end the Wars of the Roses; paving the way for the Tudor age—and the creation of modern England.
#617705 in Books Doyle Don H 2014-12-30 2014-12-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.40 x 1.50 x 6.50l; .0 #File Name: 0465029671400 pagesThe Cause of All Nations An International History of the American Civil War
Review
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful. EnlighteningBy Christian SchlectThe U.S. Civil War was more than battles; weapons; and generals. It was a symbolic contest that held the attention of many peoples and governments far from our shores. How England; France; Italy; and other states treated the matter was far from ordinary.Professor Doyle does a nice job of describing the diplomacy of both North and South as the two sides fought for the attention and favor of rulers and those ruled; especially in Europe. And for those who are not aware of the importance of political events in Mexico during the period of our Civil War; Professor Doyle supplies quite useful information.This book closes with a valuable reminder that the Statue of Liberty not only welcomes the downtrodden to our shores; but serves to "enlighten theworld" as to the hard-earned value of our once threatened; but continuing democracy.38 of 41 people found the following review helpful. How the Civil War Mattered to the WorldBy Reg AnkromThe end of a Don H. Doyle book comes too soon. His latest work; The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War;" demonstrates that. The author of several histories; Doyle knows the nub of a good story and the arc of great history. One finishes a Doyle book satisfied that Doyle has achieved his purpose but somber; too; because there is no more. The Cause of All Nations describes how foreign leaders and peoples were engaged in the American Civil War; largely by the strength of perceptions overseas about its reason. The book details how confused foreigners were initially about the war's purpose. Promised a leading military role if he would join the North's fight; Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi asked whether it was "'like any civil war;' just another internecine conflict over territory and sovereignty.'" (26) The question; which reverberated in palaces; guild halls; and serf's kitchens around the world; exposed what appeared to Europeans to be a lack of moral purpose in the U.S. conflict. In his inaugural address; President Lincoln linked its cause to the illegality of disunion and declared he had no constitutional authority to interfere with slavery. Yet; wondered Europeans; how could it be a war for constitutional principle without being a war to end slavery? Northern diplomats like Carl Schurz were quick to recognize the dilemma and advise Secretary of State William Seward that the "union was forfeiting its most appealing moral assets" in European public opinion by not focusing more on "a great humanitarian principle." (69) Monarchies and much of the world's aristocracies despised American democracy and thrilled to Northern challenges and missteps. Cause conveys how Queen Victoria and British Prime Minister Palmerston; France's Napoleon III; Spain's Queen Isabella; and Pope Pius IX were happy to see conflict in the only nation on earth where people ruled themselves. "Every friend of despotism rejoices at your misfortune;" wrote London Times correspondent William Howard Russell. (85) Doyle includes the quotation in one of the apt epigraphs with which he begins each chapter. The great contribution The Cause of All Nations makes is that it gives us the voices of Europe's peoples. Doyle teaches us they had little interest in secession or the threat to manufacturing in the loss of Southern cotton. Their concern was over "the greatest moral issue of the nineteenth century: slavery." They would not ignore the declaration by Confederacy Vice President Alexander Stephens that slavery was the cornerstone of the South. This was more than a threat to America. Europeans saw it as a threat to every person around the world. French Count Agenor de Gasparin; who renounced his allegiance to Napoleon and exiled himself to Switzerland; declared; "One of the gravest conflicts of the age is opening in America." And he summoned all Europeans to the cause: "Let us enlist." (134)Enlist they did. Doyle reports that "immigrants and sons of immigrants constituted well over 40 percent of the Union's armed forces." (159) They fought here not just for America; Doyle writes; but "for principles of liberty; equality; or democracy that transcended any particular nation." (160) We hear the voices: ". . .You can well imagine; dear mother; I support the cause of freedom with all my might;" wrote German immigrant and Union soldier Friederich Martens. ". . .You never were in slavery; but we were born in it;" said an immigrant mother from Germany to explain why her 17-year-old immigrant son had joined he Union army. `It "should seem very strange that I should volunteerly joine in the bloody strife of the battlefield;" wrote Ireland-born Peter Welsh; who had brought his wife to New York City from Canada. "Here thousands of sons and daughters of Irland have come to seek a refuge from tyranny and persecution at home . . . . America is Irland's refuge Irlands last hope." Doyle tells us that Welsh re-enlisted in January 1864 and died of wounds at Spotsylvania later that year. Seward took advantage of this universal sense of patriotism with Circular 19; which joined to the Homestead Act and an offer of virtually free land to immigrants. And thousands came. (178) Doyle writes that the circular's success took political pressure off Lincoln because foreign enlistments offset the need to call on native-born Americans for armed service. (181) Doyle takes a lengthy look at Southern approaches to foreign policy aimed at winning the battle of ideas abroad. While diplomats appeared capable enough; slavery continued to be the stumbling block to foreign alliances. Because the Confederacy now owned much of the French territory in the United States; France seemed the most likely friend. And Doyle dug out Napoleon's confidential comment to Southern Commissioner John Slidell that he personally favored the South in the war. Reaction overseas to the North's errors in the Trent Affair; the British allowance for the construction of six warships for the South; and other incidents gave hope to Southern diplomats that they could win the favor of European courts. Lincoln's action on January 1; 1863; dashed those hopes. Enthusiasm for Northern principles swelled overseas with Lincoln's signature of the Emancipation Proclamation. Even British supporters of the South began to say that emancipation was the proper course for the South. (249) By the end of the year; Southern leaders concluded; "We have no friends in this world." (253) With Lincoln's re-election in 1864; Jefferson Davis and Secretary of State Judah Benjamin see the South's only recourse is to "sacrifice slavery for independence." (272) It would not be enough. Europeans had seen the universal importance of this conflict; and Doyle writes French Professor Edouard Laboulaye's account of it: "The world is a solidarity; and the cause of America is the cause of Liberty. . . . So long as there shall be across the Atlantic a society . . . of men; living happily and peacefully under a government of their choice; with laws made by themselves; liberty will cast her rays over Europe like an illuminating pharos. But should liberty become eclipsed in the new world; it would become night in Europe. . . ." (284)18 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Engrossing historyBy Robert W. BrandstatterYou would think historians have covered every possible angle of Civil War history; but this book has to be outstandingly original. I have never read anything in depth like this regarding international reaction to the Civil War and its relationship to European history. I always had the impression that Europe just sat on the sidelines watching. This book points out all the diplomatic intrigue between North; South; and Europe as well as the domestic intrigue and democracy issues within England; France; Spain; Mexico; and even the Vatican. I was afraid it would be heavy reading; but it flowed along like a great novel or detective story with all its moves and countermoves even though you know the ending. Great mix of world history over a thirty year or so period with so many interesting nuggets. Never knew of Karl Marx's relationship to the Civil War. Highly recommended.
