Booknotes: Civil War Q&A

New Arrival:

• Civil War Q&A: A Knowledge Challenge Handbook by Lloyd W. Klein & Eric J. Wittenberg (McFarland, 2023).

Well, I am finally back at CWBA HQ after an extended trip. I should be caught up with emails and comments submitted during my lengthy absence. Hopefully, I didn't miss any (I did catch a couple missives inappropriately mired in the email spam folder). It being October, by past experience a rather busy month for releases, it was a bit surprising to find only two packages awaiting my attention. The first new release, Civil War Q&A, is a Wittenberg collaboration (this time with cardiologist Lloyd Klein) quite different from the rest of his body of work.

From the description: "This Civil War sourcebook organizes the crucial details of the war in an inventive format designed to enhance the reader's knowledge base and big-picture understanding of key events and outcomes. The war's causes, political and economic issues, important (military and political) personalities, campaigns and battles are examined." Other topics address Lincoln speeches/quotations, secrets and spies, medicine, and the Lincoln assassination. The volume is also well illustrated, as "(p)hotographs and maps have been carefully selected to supplement the topic being explored."

The purpose of the book, as stated in the preface, is to challenge the reader "to recall facts and details and to organize them to better understand the larger picture" (pg. 1). More from the description: Situated within the range of topics referenced above, "(n)early 200 reader challenges stimulate reviews of critical moments, with suggested further reading." The answers to those challenges, as revealed in the text, "are intrinsically incomplete and intended only as an introduction and invitation to the reader to further in-depth exploration"(pg. 1).