A Tilley Trilogy

I'm often asked about where to find books that tell the story of the War Between the States from the Southern perspective.

As we all know, the winners write the history books, and there are always two sides (at least) to every story.  And given that the United States was victorious in the war, and given the increasing centralization of power in Washington, D.C. that resulted from the Union victory, and given that there is now a Federal Department of Education that oversees and standardizes the way public education is conductred, and given that History is no longer even a school subject in primary school (being replaced by Social Studies), and given that we live in a time of restrictive and conformist "political correctness" that chokes out diversity and examining history according to its human complexities - is it any wonder that the historiography taught in our schools is skewed, leaving generations of Americans in the dark about their own history?

At this juncture in our American experience, our young people are becoming increasingly dumbed-down and unable to dispassionately articulate the whys and wherefores of history from a diversity of perspectives.  At this point, we're lucky if our students know that the American Revolution did not happen after World War II.

John Shipley Tilley's three books are a great source of popular history from the Southern perspective.  Tilley was born in Conyers, Georgia in 1880, the grandson of a Confederate veteran.  He earned his  M.A. at Harvard, and had a successful career as an attorney in Alabama. Tilley died in Montgomery, Alabama in 1968.

Facts the Historians Leave Out

Facts the Historians Leave Out is the shortest work in this series.  It is a "small catechism" if you will, a series of questions and answers - and a few brief vignettes - fitting for children and adults alike: the very basics of the historical topic at hand.  It was first published in 1951, and has been through more than 20 printings, with the most recent impression being in 2015.  It is a mere 83 pages and addresses 28 various topics, including the birth of the United States, slavery, states' rights, secession, the beginning of the war, its conduct, and reconstruction.

Facts can be read in a few minutes.  It is a work that is written so as young children can understand the concepts - especially if they are familiar with U.S. history as it has traditionally been taught in our schools.

The book is available on Amazon both as a paperback ($5.49) and as a Kindle book ($3.49).  It is highly rated, racking up a 4.5 star average (out of 5) as averaged across 165 customer reviews - with 84% of ratings being either 5-star (72%) or 4-star (12%).

This book, in the genre of a small catechism, is not only a helpful way to begin to look at the history of the South (and its brief period of independence) from a homegrown perspective for children or beginning history students, it is also (like the Small Catechism) a helpful text to review from time to time for seasoned students of American history.

The Coming of the Glory

The Coming of the Glory is the second of Tilley's books that I would like to briefly discuss.  Unfortunately, it is out of print, but available in the form of used paperback copies for (as of this writing) about $20.

Coming is a comprehensive and scholarly analysis of the war's causes and aftermath: covering three main sections: slavery, secession, and reconstruction.  It is 290 pages and includes a footnoted bibliography and index.  Tilley published this book in 1949.

The author's focus on these three topics was prescient, as these are the most controversial, and subsequently the most biased in their modern treatment (or ill-treatment if not avoidance).  The effect of reconstruction upon the South and the entire United States - socially, economically, and politically - cannot be over-emphasized, and yet, very few people have even read more than a couple of pages about it in their history classes.  And even then, the current popular historiographical treatment is that of the self-described Marxist Eric Foner.

Tilley's treatment provides the balance missing from today's neo-Marxist and triumphalist accounts of slavery, secession, and reconstruction.

Lincoln Takes Command

The most detailed and focused work of the Tilley Trilogy is his 1941 magnum opus Lincoln Takes Command.  Unfortunately, Lincoln is out of print, and currently sells for about $200 for a used hardcover on Amazon.  I would recommend getting a copy through interlibrary loan, or keeping your eyes peeled on eBay.

Lincoln is a detailed analysis of something that is almost never taught in high school or university courses: the machinations that led to war between the time of secession and the hostilities at Fort Sumter.  Part I of the book (94 pages) deals with Fort Pickens, near Pensacola, Florida - the events of which predated Ft. Sumter, and which almost no modern American knows anything about.

Part II deals with Fort Sumter itself (171 pages).  Part III concludes the book with a brief overview of the confederate government's aims for peace.  There are also two appendices and an index.

What is most extraordinary about Lincoln is that it slows down the clock that is usually sped up, zooming in on overlooked intrigues that happened in that critical window of time that could have opened to peace, but was unfortunately slammed shut, leading to the most disastrous and bloody war in American history. 

If you read this book, you will never look at the War Between the States the same way again.

The importance of this work is attested to by the forward by the renowned northern "Civil War" historian Avery Craven of the University of Chicago in 1940, who praises the author:

Mr. Tilley has gone back to the sources, and his investigations have brought a new point of view.  He has searched the records diligently.  His legal training has led him to weigh and sift with unusual care the evidence found.  His findings are, therefore, worthy of serious consideration.  There may still be some room for honest difference of opinion, but the day for patriotic acceptance of inherited historical ideas is gone.  Americans all can view the War Between the States as a national calamity.  They can allow the Northerner and the Southerner alike to bear the responsibility as new investigations seem to place it.  The open-minded reader will find Mr. Tilley's work much that will both surprise and enlighten him.