Booknotes ( January '10 )

New additions this month:

1. Assault and Logistics: Union Army Coastal and River Operations 1861-1866 by Charles Dana Gibson (Ensign Press, 1995).

This massive book (Vol. II of The Army's Navy Series) can be paired with Dictionary of Transports and Combatant Vessels, Steam and Sail, Employed by the Union Army, 1861 - 1868, which was published the following year by Ensign.

2. Fortress Alcatraz: Guardian of the Golden Gate by John Arturo Martini (Ten Speed Press, 2004 rev. ed.).

This is a military history of Alcatraz Island. Originally published in 1991, the revised edition (same title) followed in 2004. I don't have the older book for comparison, but this one has a fairly large chapter on the Civil War years, including a detailed map of the guns and fortifications. The perfect book to take along David's tour.

3. Military Record of Louisiana: Including Biographical and Historical Papers Relating to the Military Organizations of the State by Napier Bartlett (LSU Press, PB ed. 1996).

About half of his book is Bartlett's own memoir of his service in the east with the Washington Artillery. Of far more interest to me, the rest is a collection of source material relating to Louisiana units spread across all three major theaters, making it a useful reference work as well. Most of this edition is a facsimile reprint of the 1875 original.