by Jeffrey Schaffer

Created on: October 28, 2009

Dissonance: The Turbulent Days between Fort Sumter and Bull Run, is a Civil War book written by David Detzer.While many Civil War books focus on the major battles and famous leaders, Dissonance covers a less well known and yet interesting period of the war. Detzer focuses on the initial phase of the war immediately after Fort Sumter and the issues surrounding the border states of Virginia and Maryland. Tracking events day by day, the book gives an inside glimpse into the tension, fear and uncertainty of the Civil War's opening weeks.

Overall this is a very good book and is quite well written. People who enjoy lesser known facets of the Civil War will find this book fascinating as the elation and fear of the times is quite palpable. The author's day-by-day approach to the book helps to flesh out the details of the situation and how the people involved made their decisions.

The best part of the book is Detzer's treatment of General Winfield Scott. Gen. Scott is normally mentioned for his development of the Anaconda Plan, but the book highlights his cool headed management of the securing of Washington and Baltimore. It is often forgotten that both Washington and Baltimore were located in slave states and had significant pro-secessionist populations. General Scott, aged though still sharp, was able to raise a local militia and direct the oncoming soldiers from out of state to stabilize the situation to a degree. It is refreshing to see a in depth look at his contributions, which have often been forgotten nowadays even though he is one of the greatest soldiers in American history.

The only negative of the book is the length. Though the subtitle is "The Turbulent Days between Fort Sumter and Bull Run," it ends on May 23, far short of the battle of Bull Run which took place on July 21. With Detzer superb writing style, it is disappointing that the book ends somewhat abruptly. While it is true that this book is one of three, the other two being Allegiance and Donnybrook, from reading the book by itself you cannot tell that there are other books related to this one. It would have been far less of a disappointment if there was some connection apparent between it and the other books.

Despite the negative, Detzer is a great writer and seems quite knowledgeable of his subject. He does very well in capturing both the broad issues of the day and yet keeping the narrative personable and exciting. This is a definite must-read for anybody interested in the Civil War.

(Harcourt, 371 pages. ISBN: 978-0-15-101158-2)

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