Between the Confederacy and recognition by Great Britain stood one unlikely Englishman who hated the slave trade. His actions helped determine the fate of a nation. When Robert Bunch arrived in Charleston to take up the post of British consul in 1853, he was young and full of ambition, but even he couldn’t have imagined the incredible role he would play in the history-making events to unfold. In … events to unfold. In an age when diplomats often were spies, Bunch’s job included sending intelligence back to the British government in London. Yet as the United States threatened to erupt into Civil War, Bunch found himself plunged into a double life, settling into an amiable routine with his slavery-loving neighbors on the one hand, while working furiously to thwart their plans to achieve a new Confederacy.
As secession and war approached, the Southern states found themselves in an impossible position. They knew that recognition from Great Britain would be essential to the survival of the Confederacy, and also that such recognition was likely to be withheld if the South reopened the Atlantic slave trade. But as Bunch meticulously noted from his perch in Charleston, secession’s red-hot epicenter, that trade was growing. And as Southern leaders continued to dissemble publicly about their intentions, Bunch sent dispatch after secret dispatch back to the Foreign Office warning of the truth—that economic survival would force the South to import slaves from Africa in massive numbers. When the gears of war finally began to turn, and Bunch was pressed into service on an actual spy mission to make contact with the Confederate government, he found himself in the middle of a fight between the Union and Britain that threatened, in the boast of Secretary of State William Seward, to “wrap the world in flames.”
In this masterfully told story, Christopher Dickey introduces Consul Bunch as a key figure in the pitched battle between those who wished to reopen the floodgates of bondage and misery, and those who wished to dam the tide forever. Featuring a remarkable cast of diplomats, journalists, senators, and spies, Our Man in Charleston captures the intricate, intense relationship between great powers on the brink of war.
more
Excellent history to the run up of the Civil War from an obscure outside antislavery participant imbedded in and accepted by the Charleston slaveholding society.
The history of South Carolina befor and during tje civil war
Learned a lot about this era in history.
Who knew that Charleston was such a hotbed of intrigue and dissension prior to the Civil War? The British agent in Charleston knew. The author didn’t convince me that our hero was in great personal danger, but he did tell me more than I knew about events prior to and during that war.
One man walks a tightrope between his own beliefs and the madness surrounding him in antebellum Charleston. Can he survive without compromising his ideals and those of the British government when under intense pressure from the Confederacy? One slip could cost him everything.
Interesting perspective on American Civil War as lived and chronicled by British consul in Charleston, South Carolina. Many details I’d never heard before.
Golly, it’s been at least a couple of years since I read it. I’ve forgotten a lot of the details, but it was an unusal take on our Civil War from a British Ambassador. I’ve read lots of books about that war, but they’ve all been written by U.S. citizens. I absolutely loved it!
This book gives a very interesting portrait of Great Britain’s attitudes and actions in the Civil War.
This is an excellent read for people interested in the events leading up to the American Civil War. It is a very interesting read because it tells the side of the British on the eve of the Civil War. It was surprising to see the role that William Seward had played as Secretary of State. I would recommend this for anyone studying the Civil War and to gain a new perspective into how our war almost became a world war.
Non Fiction
A British official stationed in Charleston secretly does all he can to convince his government not to recognize the Confederacy
From the cover it would seem it is a spy story, but is an account of a British mangum living in the south when the civil war breaks out. The only interesting thing was learning more about the precarious position England was put in when the south seceded. Not a great book. Not even a good one.
To “wordy and boring”. Have up after 2 chapters.
Here’s a unique story of one man’s attempts to work behind the scenes to bring down the Confederacy.
A great insight to pre-Civil War Charleston from an ‘outside’ perspective. It ended rather abruptly, but told a part of US History from a different point of view. Well written and worth your time for a student of this slice of American history.
Excellent perspective
very well done. extremely informative and interesting. a side of the civil war I had little knowledge of. highly recommend.
An important read. My understanding of South Carolina’s role in the American Civil War was superficial, at best. We should be thankful for British Counsel Bunch and others who played important and often dangerous roles in closing this sad chapter of American History.
Revealing history of Her Majesty Queen’s Victoria’s consul, who doubled as a British secret agent, in Charleston, South Carolina from 1853-1863, during the era of secession and the Civil War. The writing style flows like a novel, although this is a factual account of a most troublesome period of American history. I recommend this highly.
A really interesting and informative book about the world during slavery and the civil war told from the perspective of the British consul. Well written and gret insights into the important people of the time. I highly recommend this book.
The book was described as a story of secret agent working on behalf of the British, cooperating with the North and working against slavery.
Maybe my expectations were off as a result. I found it ito be a rather uninteresting story of a an ambitious mid-level British consul functionary who played along with the Southern pro-slavery radicals while filing reports about how disposable they were to his superiors. While his efforts no doubt helped, I saw no evidence of spycraft or outright courage.