Booknotes (January '12)

New Arrivals:

1. The 47th Indiana Volunteer Infantry: A Civil War History by David Williamson (McFarland, 2011).

This is a massive and minutely detailed regimental history and roster of the 47th, which fought in western theater campaigns for Island No. 10, Helena, Vicksburg, Mobile, and post-war Texas.

2. The Press Covers the Invasion of Arkansas, 1862: Vol. 1 January-June by H.L. Hanna (Createspace, 2011).

Eventually, there will be two volumes of newspaper article articles from Hanna plus a later narrative history of Curtis's 1862 invasion of Arkansas. Volume 1 is comprised of northern and southern press clippings covering the period from the Battle of Pea Ridge through the Union occupation of Helena.

3. Diverging Loyalties: Baptists in Middle Georgia During the Civil War by Bruce T. Gourley (Mercer UP, 2011).

Gourley, history professor and editor of two Baptist journals as well as a Baptist history, here takes on the traditional portrayal of white southern Baptists as rock solid Confederates. At this point, I would hope that no one holds the notion that any segment of the southern population was monolithic in political loyalty, but Gourley dutifully demonstrates that Baptist views ran the whole spectrum.