Booknotes II (Nov 07)

Regular rundown of recent book purchases and review copies received:

Walker’s Texas Division, C.S.A.: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi by Richard Lowe (Louisiana State University Press, 2006). Paperback reprint of the 2004 hardcover release that won the 2004 Jefferson Davis Award (sponsored by the Museum of the Confederacy). I'm a fan of Lowe's work, and this is a long overdue acquisition. His contribution to the Civil War Campaigns and Commanders series, The Texas Overland Expedition of 1863, is among the best of the bunch.

Cry Havoc!: The Crooked Road to Civil War, 1861 by Nelson Lankford (Viking, HC Jan 2007, SC Dec 2007). I reviewed the hardcover edition (see above link) for North & South soon after release but it hasn't appeared yet. This is the December 2007 paperback. The current Amazon reviews as of this writing are rubbish; it's a fine book.

The Civil War on Pensacola Bay, 1861–1862 by John K. Driscoll (McFarland, 2007). This one just arrived and I've only glanced quickly through the bibliography and text, but it looks promising. Up to this point, the best study of Pensacola and the Civil War is George Pearce's excellent Pensacola During the Civil War: A Thorn in the Side of the Confederacy (Univ Press of Florida, 2000).