A Reader's Guide to the Sound of Distant Guns

Every time I put together a Compendium show, it seems to get away from me. I start out intending to be organized, but what usually happens is I read until I'm sick of reading—and then I just have to start talking.

I talk out the story, rather than obsessively plan it.

The Sound of Distant Guns III came together this way...sort of. I recorded it in fits and starts over the past seven or eight months—not in the concentrated push that produced the earlier shows, but as a slow, meandering exploration of what I thought the story should become. Much of that was because I was working on a book proposal, which consumed most of my attention over that stretch (more on that at the end of DGIII). I probably consulted more books for DGII and DGI, but with DGIII, I wanted to go wide before going focused.

In other words, I read a whole lot, then found voices or narratives I liked, and focused on those. So, I focused on thirteen(ish) books for DGIII, and let them guide me through the story. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson has been (and remains) a guiding light throughout the Distant Guns series. I added Shelby Foote to this show and tried to sprinkle in more primary sources for DGIII as well.

George McClellan, without me consciously intending it, became one of the show's primary point-of-view characters, and his 1886 McClellan's Own Story (his attempt at vindication) added another fascinating layer to the narrative.

The show releases tomorrow, and I can't wait for you to hear it. You can listen to The Sound of Distant Guns III here on Substack, or wherever you get your podcasts!

Until then, here are the books that helped shape the show.

• Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

• Fighting for the Confederacy by E.P. Alexander

• General John A. Rawlins: No Ordinary Man by Allen Ottens

• The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote

• Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson

• Mask of Command by John Keegan

• The American Civil War: A Military History by John Keegan

• With Grant at Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg by Wilbur Crummer*

• Company H by Sam Watkins

• A History of the English Speaking Peoples: The Great Democracies by Winston Churchill

• Civil War: Day by Day by E.B. & Barbara Long

• McClellan’s Own Story by George McClellan (compiled by Ellen McClellan, edited by W.C. Prime)*

• Abraham Lincoln, The Complete Works, Vol. II by John Nicolay & John Hay*

Note: These links are affiliate links (aside from the books available for free online*). If you choose to purchase the book through these links, I’ll get a small kickback.

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