Booknotes (May 08) - updated

Regular rundown of review copies received this month:

The Battle of Massard Prairie: The 1864 Confederate Attack on Fort Smith, Arkansas by Dale Cox (Yuchi Heritage Publication, 2008). With his new publication, Dale Cox makes a change of scenery from Florida [Marianna and Natural Bridge] to the western border of Arkansas.

Caution and Cooperation: The American Civil War in British-American Relations (New Studies in U.S. Foreign Relations) by Phillip E. Myers (Kent State Univ. Press, 2008). Thanks to Dimitri Rotov for pointing this one out on his blog. I missed it, too.

Southerners at Rest: Confederate Dead at Hollywood Cemetery by Chris Ferguson (Angle Valley Press, 2008). Ask a Civil War reader to name the first cemetery that comes to mind and there's a good chance the answer will be "Hollywood" in Richmond. Here, Chris Ferguson, also the author of Hollywood Cemetery, Her Forgotten Soldiers: Confederate Field Officers at Rest, provides a detailed tabular compilation of the most up to date interment list, along with over 100 photographs.

The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War: A Regimental History by Chris Wehner (McFarland, 2008). The service histories contained in Civil War regimental studies are typically meatless fare written from an uninspiring perspective; however, the better ones contribute new knowledge and fresh interpretations to events beyond the unit's individual experience. Fellow blogger Chris Wehner's book thankfully resides among the latter, especially with his extensive coverage of Samuel R. Curtis's campaign in northeast Arkansas in 1862.

A Rough Introduction to This Sunny Land: The Civil War Diary of Private Henry A. Strong, Co. K, Twelfth Kansas Infantry ed. by Tom Wing (Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, 2006). A valuable diary account of service in Missouri, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.

The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged by David W. Reed (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2008). This is the first reprint of Reed's classic study since the 1913 revised edition. The UT Press edition has a new introduction by Timothy B. Smith and a companion CD that contains reproductions of Reed's color maps in .pdf format [I believe these were large pullouts in the early 20th century editions].


The number of delayed publications and a lull in May-June releases should allow me some needed time to catch up on my reading.