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Friday, October 7, 2011

Thunder Across the Swamp

Don Frazier's Thunder Across the Swamp: The Fight for the Lower Mississippi, February-May 1863 is out now (the pre-orders have shipped). A good history of Nathaniel Banks's Bayou Teche campaign doesn't exist, and, given the quality of his previous work, I have high hopes that Frazier will deliver the goods here. On a product description note, the length of Thunder has increased substantially since book and "quadrille" series was announced several years ago. The publisher State House Press now has it listed at 630 pages and 56 maps (almost double the previous estimate) with a full retail price of $59.

4 comments:

  1. My mom was friends with Morris Raphael, and I've had a signed copy of "Battle in the Bayou Country" for years; not terribly good. I'm excited about this series, as I grew up in that area, but these newer prices are a little steep. I ordered my copy from Amazon in May, and it was $26.50 or so back then.

    Joel Manuel
    Baton Rouge

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  2. Hi Joel,
    I noticed on my associates report today that the pre-orders went out at $26. Sometimes it really does pay to go that route!

    The book was originally scheduled for release last year, so it looks like Frazier was adding a great deal more material in the interim. I seem to recall the original page estimate at 350 or so, but I haven't received my copy yet so I don't know if it is really over 600 pages now. Maybe I will try to get Don to do an interview.

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  3. Great news! The first volume was excellent, but I was hoping for a more detailed account of the Bayou Teche Campaign. It sounds like we are getting it.

    Chris Van Blargan

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  4. Sorry about the price jump; Amazon does a good job of whittling down that sticker shock.

    Here's why the jump: Added a lot more about supplies coming from Texas, more details on steamboats and roles in the theater (better that sixty mentioned by name), gunboat actions on the Mississippi related to the campaign, nearly sixty original maps, many based on parish-level plats from 1860, and a boatload of images (nearly 200). Think of it as two books together.

    As long as I was doing this book, I figured to be as comprehensive as possible. This part of Louisiana is due a detailed telling of their part of the war.

    Hope y'all like it. Send feedback; I can make adjustments as I work on the next two.

    DSF

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