The Crisis [Paperback]

Hundred year-old books often make for difficult reading, and this is no exception, but the story at the heart of it is one that you probably haven't heard before - especially if you went to elementary school in the North. On the surface it's a sentimental Civil War romance novel: Northern boy with an abolitionist mentor meets Southern girl from old, aristocratic, slaveholding Virginia family in antebellum St. Louis Missouri. Get beyond it.
Get deeper into it though and we meet Ulysses Grant, not as a General but as a failed businessman. We meet Sherman before he got his stripes. We meet Abraham Lincoln during the period of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and the author takes the time and respects his readers' intelligence enough to get into the philosophical and rhetorical merits of Lincoln's debating techniques and the Republican Party's platform. The title of the books is drawn from a question put by Lincoln to Douglas at their Fairfield, Illinois debate. In developing his thesis on the Civil War, the author goes into great detail to explain how a desire for Liberty drove a wave of German immigrants to American shores in the mid-1800s where, as war approached, they displayed pro-Union sympathies. The author's thesis itself is that the American Civil War was not an indigenous event but was rather an chapter in an ongoing struggle between factions of the Anglo-Saxon race, a struggle between Cavaliers and Puritans going back to the days of King Charles I.
All-in-all, a book that opens the eyes to different ways of thinkin'. Readers looking for expressions of true equality of the freedmen or non Anglo-Saxon Europeans will not find these.

Hopefully the confusion over the two Winston Churchills has been straightened out for anyone searching this page; the Churchill who wrote THE CRISIS was an American novelist, not the British leader (though they knew each other and even met once). During the time this book was written the novelist Churchill was much better known than Sir Winston.

This book is Churchill's second historical novel and is concerned with the Civil War mainly around the St. Louis area. As with the previous novel, RICHARD CARVEL, Churchill did a great deal of research before writing his book. In fact, it's the history that's revealed in the book that most impresses; those things that make for a superb novelist , especially plausible character development and credible dialogue, were often lacking in Churchill's works. Stephen Brice, a Bostonian lawyer, comes to St. Louis and falls in love with Virginia Carvel (daughter of Colonel Carvel from the earlier novel), who shuns him because he's a Northerner. Brice joins the Union army when the war breaks out, and through him we encounter major historical figures, including Grant and Lincoln. The climax comes when Brice goes to Lincoln to ask for the release of Virginia's captured lover, Colfax; Lincoln agrees and Virginia is amazingly impressed with Lincoln's goodness and wishes all in the South could appreciate him as she has learned to do. It's about as bad as it sounds.

Although parts of the story are pretty exciting, just about all the characters are cardboard cutouts. Even Grant, perhaps his best drawn character, appears and sounds nothing like the general encountered in the history books. Churchill refused to make his characters multi-dimensional: they are either all good or all bad, there is no in-between. He also followed the standard formula for romantic fiction, with the lovers at odds over opposing "principles," who over time, in which they are able to demonstrate their noblest qualities, are reconciled. This formula has fallen out of fashion today (though when done well can still make for exceptional fiction), and most modern readers might find the history in the book more appealing than the love story (if they can make it through the love story). The best thing in the book might be the way St. Louis is portrayed; Churchill accurately represents the city, especially the less familiar German element of it. The novel was extremely popular when it first came out - it sold 100,000 copies in the first few days of publication - and it probably will still find favor with those who enjoy old-fashioned romantic novels who can suspend much of their disbelief for 500 pages or so.

Forget the above quote about Eliphalet Hopper. Turns out he's a minor player. The true main character is Bostonian Stephen Brice and his long, long, looonnnnggg unspoken love for uppity Southern Belle Virginia Carvel. In between the years when they first meet to finally confessing their love for each other a minor thing known as the Civil War occurs. The setting is mainly St. Louis, a city like many others that is divided in its loyalties. Real-life people pop up now and then, like an unknown Grant delivering firewood and energetic Sherman in charge of a car line. Abraham Lincoln might as well be the Second Coming the way the author goes on and on about him. I'm giving the book three stars because it does move at a good pace and keeps you interested until the end. However, you must keep in mind the times and ways things used to be when this book was originally written. If you're offended by the N-word this novel may not be for you as it is used regularly.

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