As mentioned here, I’ve accumulated a few books over the past few weeks. Twenty-nine, to be exact, not counting the four I received for a magazine review. So for no particular reason, I’m going to list those purchases here, grouped by the categories I use in my library. I’m not going to provide links to them; by now you probably know how to find them on the web yourself. Publication year is of the first edition – some of these are reprints.
If you have read any of these or have any comments, let fly. Maybe this will be a conversation starter.
Abolition, Emancipation, Slavery:
Confederate Emancipation, Bruce Levine, 2006 – Southern plans to free and arm slaves during the Civil War
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass, 1845
Nothing but Freedom, Eric Foner, 1983 – Emancipation and its legacy
Patriotic Treason, Evan Carton, 2006 – John Brown and the soul of America
Battles and Campaigns:
Antietam Hospitals, John Schildt, 1987 – The story of the hospitals set up in the aftermath and vicinity of the Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Glorieta Pass, Thomas Edrington & John Taylor, 1998 – The story of the New Mexico battle of March, 1862
History and Tour Guide of the Antietam Battlefield, Editors of Blue & Gray Magazine, 1995 – Tour guide
Biographies:
Winfield Scott Hancock, Gettysburg Hero, Perry D. Jamieson, 2003
Commands, Strategy and Tactics:
The Civil War and the Limits of Destruction, Mark E. Neely, Jr., 2007 – The destructiveness of the Civil War in a comparative context
Trench Warfare under Grant & Lee, Earl J. Hess, 2007 – Field Fortifications in the Overland Campaigns
Community History:
Confederate Charleston, Robert N. Rosen, 1994 – An illustrated history of the city and the people during the Civil War
Pennsylvania Civil War Trails, Tom Huntington, 2007 – The guide to Pennsylvania battle sites, monuments, museums & towns
Diaries and Letters:
Echoes, Benjamin A. Fordyce (Lydia P. Hecht, editor), 1996 – Letters of a Quaker surgeon of the 160th NY
Germans in the Civil War, Walter Kamphoefner & Wolfgang Helrich, editors, 2006 translation of a 2002 German publication – Letters from German immigrant soldiers home to family and friends in Germany
Maryland Voices of the Civil War, Charles W. Mitchell, editor, 2007 – Diaries, letters & newspaper accounts chronicling the experiences of Marylanders in the Civil War
Meade’s Army, Theodore Lyman (David W.Lowe, editor), 2007 – The private notebooks of George Meade’s ADC
Intelligence:
Spies & Spymasters of the Civil War, Donald E. Markle, 1994
Lincoln:
Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley, Jennifer Fleischner, 2003 – The friendship between Mary Todd and a former slave employed in the White House
Medicine:
Gangrene and Glory, Frank R. Freemon, 1998, Medical care during the Civil War
Memoirs:
Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton, John H.Brinton, 1914 – A Union surgeon and cousin of George B. McClellan
A Rebel Cavalryman, John N. Opie, 1899 – A Confederate who was present at Bull Run
Navy:
From Cape Charles to Cape Fear, Robert M. Browning, 1993 – The North Atlantic blockading squadron during the Civil War
The Last Shot, Lynn Schooler, 2005 – The story of the CSS Shenandoah
Union Jacks, Michael J.Bennet, 2004 – Yankee sailors in the Civil War
Prisons:
Andersonville: The Last Depot, William Marvel, 1994
Special Studies:
The Civil War in the Western Territories, Ray C. Colton, 1959 – The war in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah
The Collapse of the Confederacy, Charles H. Wesley, 1937
Unit Histories:
Headquarters in the Brush, Darl L. Stephenson, 2001 – Blazer’s Independent Union Scouts
In Camp and Battle with the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, William Miller Owen, 1885 – The story of the famous Confederate artillery unit
Hi Harry,
An interesting collection of topics but I have none of these as of yet in my library. Being a helpless book collector with no self-control what so ever, I’d be more than willing to read any you have particular interest in discussing and “let fly.”
Rene
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Harry,
Have read a few in the list. The Brinton memoir stands out as one of the better I have read over the years. Marvel’s book on Andersonville is hands down the most depressing book on the Civil War I have ever read. I have yet to read any other history of a prison during the war since I finished that one.
Hope all is well.
Steve
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Harry,
I really enjoyed the following:
Headquarters in the Brush, Darl L. Stephenson
Trench Warfare under Grant & Lee, Earl J. Hess
I see a couple of medical books on your list. You might want to take a look at “Bleeding Blue & Gray: Civil War Surgery & the Evolution of American Medicine,” by Ira Rutkow. The first chapter deals with Bull Run.
Mike
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Harry,
I haven’t personally read the Hess book, but Drew Wagenhoffer posted a good review of it Thursday over on his blog if you haven’t already seen it.
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