Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
by Robert Gould Shaw
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert Gould ShawEditor: Russell Duncan
Foreword: William S. McFeely
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-11-18
ISBN: 0820321745
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Book Reviews of Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
Book Review: A hero by default
Summary: 4 Stars
Russell Duncan's compendium of letters both exalts and puzzles.The job of editing the letters and setting them in the context of war, family ties, friendships, etc. is thorough and, for the most part, makes them accessible. Let's not forget, though, that the editor omitted some letters that don't support his main thesis: that Col. Shaw was a rich young pleasure-lover who fought to get back to his privileged existence, never changing this outlook throughout the war; he "never fully understood nor dedicated himself" to the cause of Black freedom (pp.1-2). So here we are presented with a young man raised by abolitionists who went to all the hazards of preparing and leading something new, a black regiment, before dying in the middle of it, without understanding what he was about, or dedicating himself to it. It's fashionable to "debunk" the heros of yore, but even those letters we have tell us otherwise, and Duncan reverses his appraisal, back and forth, several times. We should also beware of measuring citizens of other times against a modern baseline on classism, racism, etc. Apart from these problems, found in the introduction and some footnotes, the book lets Shaw speak for himself (he does it eloquently and enjoyably) and the reader can draw his/her own conclusion on ideas, events, and character development.
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