21 h 7 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Inside a prison stockade, hunger, sickness, and rumors of release shape the struggle to stay alive.
John L. Ransom serves in the 9th Michigan Cavalry until his capture in 1863 changes his war. His prison journal follows him into Confederate captivity, from Belle Isle in Richmond to Andersonville in Georgia. Here, the fighting lies beyond the walls. Inside them, shelter, food, and the strength to endure become the urgent concerns of each day.
In Andersonville Diary, Ransom records hunger, disease, sudden cruelty, and small acts of kindness in a plain, often dry voice. He shows how prisoners form groups and organize life inside the stockade, where illness can weaken a man in days. His entries bring you close to the people enduring these conditions, and to the daily uncertainty of waiting for release.
What you’ll discover
- A soldier's changed war Follow a Michigan cavalryman's passage from military service into the daily struggle of captivity.
- Life behind timber walls See how Andersonville works through the eyes of a prisoner living inside its stockade.
- Order amid hardship Discover how prisoners form groups and build their own order under harsh conditions.
- Kindness beside cruelty Encounter small acts of care alongside the sudden cruelty Ransom records.
- The work of surviving Explore how friendship, work, and luck matter when hunger and disease threaten life.
Who will love it
Readers of Civil War history, survival stories and first-person journals will love this book, and so will anyone curious about how ordinary people keep their courage and humor in terrible places.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dance that trapped a brigade
- Rules of the Astor House Mess
- Arrival at the stockade
- A summer that kills thousands
- Prisoners put their own raiders on trial
- Battese, the friend who will not quit
- Savannah, a hospital and a changed outlook
- The diary itself and what surrounds it
- Digging toward freedom
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 21 h 7 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Andersonville-Tagebuch in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Andersonville-Tagebuch
by John L. Ransom · 1881
A Michigan sergeant trades worthless bank notes for a bedspread on his march into captivity.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What does it take to stay alive when thousands around you are dying? John L. Ransom, a young Michigan cavalry sergeant, kept a diary through Confederate prisons, and it lists the days, the food, the friends and the dead.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dance that trapped a brigade
Ransom is a quartermaster sergeant of the Ninth Michigan Cavalry, serving with a brigade at Rogersville, Tennessee, in November 1863. Local rebel citizens throw a dance and invite the Union officers. Most officers attend, and at dawn Confederate cavalry strike a camp with almost no one in command.
Ransom gets seventy-six wagons into line in ten minutes and the men fight ten hours before they surrender. Before the train journey to Richmond, he loses his blanket and overcoat. Then he cons a guard. He hands over a roll of worthless Michigan bank notes and receives a large bedspread in return.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Andersonville-Tagebuch
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Andersonville Diary about?
It follows Ransom's days as a Union prisoner from his capture in Tennessee in 1863 through Belle Isle, Andersonville, Savannah, Millen and escapes, with details of food, disease, friendship and survival.
Is Andersonville Diary a true story?
Yes, it is a real account by John L. Ransom. He records his own imprisonment, with daily notes on food, illness, friendship and hopes of release.
Who is Battese in Andersonville Diary?
Battese is a Minnesota Indian soldier and a devoted friend to Ransom in the stockade. He cooks, cares for Ransom when sick and helps him through the gate toward the train to Savannah.
The author
John L. Ransom
American Civil War diarist
John L. Ransom (1843–1919) was an American soldier and author who lived in the United States. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was held prisoner at Andersonville in Georgia. His account of his imprisonment, Andersonville Diary, was published in 1881.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
