Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Recommended Reading List - Civil War in Desert Southwest (1861-1862)

A number of good books on the subject have surfaced recently, so I decided to revisit my reading list of recommended books dealing with the early war period in the desert Southwest, specifically the Confederate invasion of New Mexico and the U.S. government's response.

Good history of events leading up to campaign:
Best single-volume campaign history:
Best campaign history from U.S. perspective:
Campaign in Arizona (Confederate perspective):
Campaign in Arizona (U.S. perspective):
Best history of the Battle of Valverde:
Best history of the Battle of Glorieta:
Good edited collections of primary source materials:

7 comments:

  1. Damn it. More books to buy and read.

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  2. What an outstanding list -- very useful. Thanks for gathering that together.

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  3. I hope you go for it, Stephen. My personal favorite among the list is the Glorieta book written by Don Alberts.

    You're welcome, David. For such a small campaign, it sure was blessed with a lot of good writing published over the past decade. Not every aspect of the war in the T-M theater has been neglected!

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  4. Great list on a forgotten campaign! Here's mine, might be of interest. Cheers, Ammianus

    http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Ammianus&tag=Southwest

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  5. Ammianus,
    Keying in on the strictly CW-related, "The Battle at Valley's Ranch: First Account of the Gettysburg of the West" by Simmons is one I've yet to come across. Not surprising, given that it's a locally published booklet. Did you find it worthwhile?

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  6. Hi Drew, RE Valley's Ranch; not really. Since I collect Glorieta, I'll hang on to it but don't waste YOUR money. Cheers, A

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  7. Hi again Drew et al (nice tie Al),
    A great little book on my list is the forgotten, "My Life with the Army in the West: Memoirs of James E. Farmer." It reads like Little Big Man; Farmer ran away from home, campaign with the pre-ACW Army, played with Longstreet's kids, met Kit Carson, traveled to DC and met Lincoln,etc...and as a washed up janitor told his story for a few bucks late in life. Fascinating. Discovered a small press version on one of our Santa Fe trips. Regards, A

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