Booknotes III (December '12)

New Arrivals:

1. The Battles that Made Abraham Lincoln: How Lincoln Mastered his Enemies to Win the Civil War, Free the Slaves, and Preserve the Union by Larry Tagg (Savas Beatie, 2012).

The "battles" referred to are Lincoln's clashes with secessionists, party radicals, his cabinet, generals, opposition Democrats, the 19th century political spoils system, and more -- a pretty broad look. Dimitri's blurb calls this "the best Lincoln tome I have seen in 15 years of compiling and reviewing Civil War book releases".

2. Divided Loyalties: Kentucky's Struggle for Armed Neutrality in the Civil War by James W. Finck (Savas Beatie, 2012).

I've been looking for a book on this subject for years.  Glad to see someone tackle it.

3. Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862 by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher White (Savas Beatie, 2012).

4. Confrontation at Gettysburg: A Nation Saved, a Cause Lost by John David Hoptak (The History Pr, 2012).

A summary, at around 250 pages of narrative, of the three days of combat at Gettysburg for THP's Civil War Sesquicentennial series.

5. The Battle of Stones River and the Fight for Middle Tennessee, Volume 4 edited by Timothy D. Johnson (The Tenn Hist Society, 2012).

The collection of Forrest cavalry articles (the original Vol. 4) has been bumped in favor of the Stones River compilation of previously published Tennessee Historical Quarterly pieces.