Booknotes: Tar Heel Civil War Flags

New Arrival:

• Tar Heel Civil War Flags: The Collection of the North Carolina Museum of History by Tom Belton (McFarland, 2026).

Like the title featured in Monday's new arrival announcement, this one explores an important aspect of Civil War-era material culture, the flags under consideration being among the most sacred artifacts to those that served under them. Tom Belton's Tar Heel Civil War Flags: The Collection of the North Carolina Museum of History serves as both major exhibition companion and standalone reference guide.

From the description: "In September 1999, the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh presented North Carolina and the Civil War, an exhibition which highlighted over 350 Civil War objects from the museum's collection. A major component of the exhibit consisted of original Civil War-era flags. Tom Belton was the curator of this priceless collection for over thirty years, and in this book, he presents the history and context of each of the 112 Confederate flags in holding, with studio color quality photographs accompanying each entry."

With one or more modern color photographs, B&W archival images, or reproduced documents placed on nearly every page, this is a prodigiously illustrated volume. Among the flag selections are "state flags, company flags, first and second national flags, and battle flags, as well as entries describing the acquisition of this important collection. Additional entries cover post-war flags and banners associated with heritage groups."

Tar Heel Civil War Flags "presents an insider's perspective on one of North Carolina's most distinguished historical collections."