Monday, August 31, 2009

Booknotes IV (August '09)

New additions:

1. The Charleston & Hamburg: A South Carolina Railroad & an American Legacy by Thomas Fetters (The History Press, 2008).

Railroad history enthusiasts will like this one, a complete history of the C&H Railroad. Like all books from this publisher, illustrations abound, but abundant maps (not always a THP staple) also distinguish the volume. A twenty page chapter specifically covers the Civil War years.

2. General John S. Marmaduke and the Battle of Ashley's Mill by George A. Brown (Author, 1991).

This is one of the weirdest books I've encountered (on a whim, I picked it up on eBay). The author researched and compiled the volume while serving a jail sentence on a divorce proceeding. It is a collection of newspaper clippings, journal articles, and some original writing by the author dealing with Gen. Marmaduke, the Battle of Ashley's Mill, and a history of the area.

3. Like a Meteor Burning Brightly: The Short but Controversial Life of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren by Eric J. Wittenberg (Edinborough Press, 2009).

The foolishness of its conception seems to be the only thing not controversial about Dahlgren's famous raid ending in his death and the discovery on his person of documents of propaganda gold for the Confederates. Of course, that event was not his entire life, and we'll see what Eric has to say about it all.

2 comments:

  1. Now I know what to do if I ever get put in jail. He was more productive that most inmates I would think.

    ReplyDelete
  2. True. It's not a good book, but there are far worse things he could have been getting into!

    ReplyDelete

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