Booknotes V (May '13)

New Arrivals:

1. Civil War General and Indian Fighter James M. Williams: Leader of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry and the 8th U.S. Cavalry by Robert W. Lull (Univ of N Tex Pr, 2013).

This military biography of Williams should serve to bring some needed attention to Civil War events in the Indian Territory and bordering T-M Confederate states, as well as more detail on the fighting career of the 1st Kansas Colored infantry regiment.

2. North Carolina Civil War Monuments: An Illustrated History by Douglas J. Butler (McFarland, 2013).

"This illustrated history details North Carolina's commemorative response to a war in which more than 30,000 of its soldiers died in military service: 101 Confederate monuments--and eight Union memorials, including one honoring African American troops--were dedicated across the Tarheel State between 1865 and the Civil War centennial in 1961. The location, design, funding and dedication of these memorials reveal a society's evolving grief and the forging of public memory. Committee minutes, financial records, legal documents, and contemporaneous accounts highlight the challenging and often contentious process through which these monuments were realized. Manufacturers' catalogs and advertisements, as well as spirited editorial exchanges in newspapers and magazines, provide further insight into the sculptural, technological and cultural milieu".

3. The Civil War in 50 Objects by Harold Holzer & The NY Hist Society (Viking, 2013).

This book recounts the war through 50 historical items held in the NYHS's collection.