Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Booknotes II (May '14)

New Arrivals:

1. Ford's Theatre by Brian Anderson (Arcadia Pub, 2014).

Part of Arcadia's Images of America series, Anderson's photograph and caption study of Ford's Theater traces the building's history from Baptist Church to theater (and Lincoln assassination site, of course) to commercial building and museum.

2. Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln by Jonathan W. White (LSU Pr, 2014).

White's belief that too many scholars fail to delve deep enough into the mechanics and meaning of the soldier vote in the 1864 presidential election (78% for Lincoln) jives more than a little with my own reading. He argues that, in viewing the election result as representative of resounding approval by those in the ranks of Republican military and social war aims, historians have "ignored mitigating factors such as voter turnout, intimidation at the polls, and how soldiers voted in nonpresidential elections in 1864." I'm about halfway through the book already and from what I've read so far I highly recommend it.

3. Hurricane from the Heavens: The Battle of Cold Harbor, May 26 - June 5, 1864 by Daniel Davis and Phillip Greenwalt (Savas Beatie, 2014).

Latest from the Emerging Civil War series.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for your kind words about my new book. I hope you enjoy the rest of it.
    - Jon White

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did. My review is finished but awaiting the official release date (LSU requests that reviews not be published before that time). In my opinion, it's the book of the year so far.

      Delete

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