Monday, August 1, 2011

Booknotes ( August '11 )

New Arrivals:

1. Shooting Soldiers: Civil War Medical Photography By R.B. Bontecou by Stanley B. Burns, M.D. (Burns Archive Press, 2011).

The Burns Archive Press is publishing a series featuring the pioneering medical photography of Dr. Reed B. Bontecou. Shooting Soldiers is Vol. 1 and it provides 150 images (103 of which are posed portraits of soldiers and their wounds, both before and after treatment).

2. The Perfect Lion: The Life and Death of Confederate Artillerist John Pelham by Jerry H. Maxwell (U. of Ala Press, 2011).

This lengthy military biography of "The Gallant Pelham" is an impressive looking work in terms of level of detail and extent of research/documentation.

5 comments:

  1. Not sure how I missed the Pelham bio, but I will be reading that one.

    Thanks Drew

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS. I just determined the university press tagged with book with a $50.00 retail price. That is substantially overpriced, and as a publisher I can say that with confidence. Unfortunately, that price tag will cut away three-fourths of the readers who would have otherwise glad purchased a copy around $33.00. How sad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree totally with TPS. I wish the Pelham book would be around $25-30 just like some of the other books Alabama has published. For example, the very good book on the 2nd Corps of the Army of the Potomac at Antietam was reasonably priced.

    It is a shame because from what the reviews the Pelham book sounds really good and is needed as Hassler's book definitely should be bettered. Plus, Pelham's story is utterly fascinating and I'd like to read about it in detail.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello

    I would like to get this title, but the cost may convince me to wait. I would think at some point in the future, The University Alabama Press will have it discounted. A $50.00 price seems really high. At least it is a hardbound edition.

    However, I'm not sure of the quality of the materials. I did buy something from UA press recently and the boards were paper covered, not cloth.

    Don H.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Don,
    The boards of the Pelham bio are paper covered. The pricing models of UPs are wildly inconsistent and impossible to figure out. I tried to tease out some information from a UTP rep in a recent interview, but he was having none of it!

    ReplyDelete

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