"One wounded man come to our house. A bullet had gone in one cheek and out the other, and it show some of his teeth out, too... My little sister cried because she was sorry for him. He had to hold a handkerchief on each side of his face so the food wouldn't run out when he swallowed." [p 133]

This one of the more shocking quotations, but nowhere nearly as gruesome as many from "Contraband" who roamed the battlefields after the fighting was over. Numerous accounts were reflected on by slaves who helped remove piles arms and legs outside windows of make-shift army hospitals. Battlefields of knee-high blood and bodies so thick, one never touched ground as they traversed the combat zone were a plenty, but thanks to Hollywood gore, it is tolerable. What was truly horrifying was the first-hand accounts of treatment of slaves; these weren't the carefully chose words of Frederick Douglass but raw narration.

As another reviewer wrote (see below: PigOfHappiness, 09/23/2008), this book took a little getting used to because of the sheer number of quotations per paragraph. Andrew Ward attempts to credit the former slave in the text, but he may cite several in the span of a few sentences; while these are quilted together to make a cogent illustration, it only became so after a reread of the passage. Ultimately, this need to reread a sentence or two only happened occasionally, I found it required to fully appreciate the independent views to share in common but separate experiences.

Mr. Ward fashioned a book that was less narrative and more like a 300-page newspaper article. He expertly strings together the interviews done in the 1930s and 1940s of former slaves, some who became Blue Jackets and others who struggled to survive amidst a war that stripped the South of food, shelter, and safety. In the author's note chapter at the end of the book, Andrew Ward explains his methodology, his careful decisions to not offer his own opinion and do what the interviewers did, rewrite the statements of the interviewee to sound more "vernacular." He also expands on the notion that memories fade or may become conflated; also we are reminded to take into account the fear of former slaves had of White trickery or being returned to bondage - therefore, they may have been reserved and more cautious of speaking freely.

Mr. Ward did a nice job of documenting the passages and quotes groups related to events and chronology. He has split into sections parts of the Civil War by year as well as east and west theaters. At times he takes advantage of providing some background of prewar events like plantation life or the slave pens to preface some of the hard to understand views of the former chattel.

What surprised me the most was various views the slaves had about their "owners." I think it is fair to look back with the popular understanding that no slave enjoyed bondage. Well, some did - or at least the relative comfort in freedom from choice slavery forced upon them. In what would later be termed Stockholm Syndrome, every horror of human slavery was accepted as just the way things needed to be. Many a free slave voiced their desire to be "protected" again under their Master's care after the war; personally, I would suspect some of these interviewers were likely saying this to remain in the good graces of the Whites, should they be re-enslaved. Mr. Ward bars no hold and fairly documents the transgressions of the Yankees, the disheartened feelings after the assassination of ("Marse") President Lincoln and the failures of the Union to protect the slaves during the war and prior to establishment of Reconstruction.

So often, in historical sense, we tend to think and learn of events as groups of like minded people. Yankees good and virtuous; Rebels bad and vicious. Slaves happy and thankful and prosperous until the early 1900s when the South rose again. What I learned from The Slaves' War is that we cannot always compartmentalize the past in such easy terms. Some slaves remained as faithful as ever during and after the war; some slave-owners disliked the institution and were relieved to see the system of labor crumble; some Yankees couldn't care less about the slaves they were freeing and merely pillaged and plundered the mansions for treasure and victimized the slaves they were freeing. Countless Confederates defected to the Northern Army and just as many did not want to fight. There was a class of poor whites even the slaves looked down upon, and the only reason they weren't enslaved was their skin color.

It is so important to read history and more importantly history as free of modern day sensibilities as possible. This book does just that. ( )

This is the first book I've read that contains so many direct quotations from people who were slaves. I gave it 4 stars because of the volume and variety of primary information gathered. At the end of the book, there is a brief biography of each of the individuals quoted which was also interesting.

The writing style is almost conversational because so much of it is spoken by slaves. it can be a bit confusing because a story might be started by one person and continued or finished by others. Once you get used to this, it becomes normal and is less noticeable. ( )

The Slaves' War: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves UNABRIDGED By Andrew Ward
Narrated by Richard Allen
This is the first narrative of the Civil War told by the very people that it freed. Groundbreaking, compelling, and poignant, The Slaves' War delivers an unprecedented vision of the nation's bloodiest conflict.

An acclaimed historian of 19th-century and African American history, Andrew Ward gives us the first narrative of the Civil War told from the perspective of those whose destiny it decided. Woven together from interviews, diaries, letters, and memoirs, here is the Civil War as seen not only from battlefields and camps but also from slave quarters, kitchens, roadsides, and fields.

Speaking in a quintessentially American language of biblical power and intensity, body servants, army cooks and launderers, runaways, teamsters, and gravediggers bring the war to life.

From slaves' theories about the war's causes to their frank assessments of such figures as Lincoln, Davis, Lee, and Grant; from their searing memories of the carnage of battle to their often startling attitudes toward masters and liberators alike; and from their initial jubilation at the Yankee invasion of the slave South to the crushing disappointment of freedom's promise unfulfilled, The Slaves' War is an engrossing vision of America's Second Revolution.

©2008 Andrew Ward; (P)2008 Tantor

This is such a good book that comes to me from a new direction...that of the slaves and freemen. I have relatives that fought in the war between the states. (that is the way my mother says it..."There was nothing civil about it!" she says very forcefully.) I think I am happier that I got this as an audio book as the reader has a has just the right voice for it. Maybe this is the right time for people to hear these voices. To hear the words of people we didn't hear from in school. Consider it well, my friends. ( )

This informative book presents the experience of African-Americans during the civil war, both slaves and freed. Can be a bit hard to follow at times due to the shear volume of names and quotations, however, is definitely worth the effort. Appropriate for High School and beyond. ( )