Booknotes (April 08)

Regular rundown of book purchases or review copies received so far this month:

Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks by W. Craig Gaines (Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2008). What a great resource this book will be. Organized by country, state, and/or body of water, this indexed reference guide lists known oceanic and inland water vessel losses. Ship entries range in detail from a few sentences to several hundred words, and a number of maps are provide to indicate approximate resting places. Quite a departure in subject matter from the author's previous Civil War related work, The Confederate Cherokees.

Confederates on the Caney: An Illustrated Account of the Civil War on the Texas Gulf Coast by B.J. McKinney (Mouth of Caney Publication, 1997 rev. ed.). Purchased this one through Research Unlimited. Nice customer service.

A Gallant Little Army: The Mexico City Campaign by Timothy D. Johnson (Univ. Press of Kansas, 2007). In terms of military histories, KU is probably best known for its phenomenal WW2 publications, but late last year they released this history of Scott's famous campaign [the first ever modern full account, I believe] from the Mexican War.

General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse by Joseph Glatthaar (Simon and Schuster, 2008). This is another book from a major trade publisher that one might have expected to be released by an academic press. If it indicates that the big boys still believe that there is enough interest in the wider market for serious analysis then that's a good thing.

The Feud That Wasn't: The Taylor Ring, Bill Sutton, John Wesley Hardin, and Violence in Texas by James M. Smallwood (Texas A&M University Press, 2008). This is another book advancing the thesis of Reconstruction era gang violence as an extension of the Civil War.

Civil War Regiments: A Journal of the American Civil War : Charleston : Battles and Seacoast Operations in South Carolina (Savas Publishing, 1997). Vol. 5, No. 2. CWR is a journal I regret not subscribing to back in the day [you should see what some of these things go for on the secondary market]. I try to snatch up the most interesting ones when I find them.