Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Booknotes II (Feb 08)

Regular rundown of book purchases or review copies received so far this month (Part 2):

The Exodus of Federal Forces from Texas, 1861 by J.J. Bowden (Eakin Press, 1986).

Winter Lightning: A Guide to the Battle of Stones River by Matt and Lee Spruill (University of Tennessee Press, 2007). Spruills (however many there are...3+?) must descend from an ancient family of tour guides.

When the Texans Came: Missing Records from the Civil War in the Southwest, 1861-1862 by John P. Wilson (University of New Mexico Press, 2001). This is a lengthy treasure trove of source materials -- reports, diaries, letters, sketches, casualty returns, newspaper articles, etc. It's a very nice quality hardback as well; how the publisher managed a $12.95 list price is beyond me.

The Civil War in St. Louis: A Guided Tour by William C. Winter (Missouri Historical Society, 1995). This is an exceptionally good history and guide book; exhibiting a number of great maps, illustrations, and photographs in addition to the deep text.

Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865 by Noah Andre Trudeau (Castle Books, pb reprint, 2002). If you had to chose one book to best inform yourself about the military experience of USCTs this would probably be the one.

4 comments:

  1. I recently completed a review of the Spruills's book for an historical journal. My only real gripe was that they did it in "staff ride" style rather than as a true tour guide. Apparently the Army War College had a great deal of influence on them.

    Art Bergeron

    ReplyDelete
  2. Art,
    I reviewed the Spruills' Seven Days guide a while back for N&S. It's not my preferred style. The guide series I like best is Nebraska's.

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  3. Drew,

    I'm looking forward to your comments on the Texas Exodus book. The OR coverage seems very disjointed, so it'll be interesting to see how he puts it together.

    Don

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don,
    If it proves interesting, I'll certainly put some comments together for it. I've had my eye on it for years, and finally took the plunge.

    ReplyDelete

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