Magazine Review--North & South

North & South: The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society. Volume 11 Number 4. $6.99

The new issue of North & South has arrived. The main article is a discussion involving several Civil War scholars over what the main target should have been. Should the main Union target have been the cities in order to disrupt supply lines and infrastructure as put forth by Allen Guelzo or was Lee's army (and others) a better target as subscribed to by James McPherson and others . An interesting back and forth discussion.

Other articles included "Tactics in the Wilderness" written by Reid Ross, "Missourians and the War on the Western Rivers" written by William Garrett Piston and Thomas P. Sweeney, "Snake Creek Gap and the Campaign That Never Happened" written by Steven Newton, and "The Savage War" written by Daniel Sutherland. The issue wraps up with book reviews which for some reason are also printed on the inside back cover. I guess advertising wasn't sold for this page so they made use as best they could.

The articles contained small period photos mostly of the major names that were mentioned. None did a lot for me or helped the articles too much in my view. A couple of maps were thrown in but again I found these to be lacking--they were small and one of them almost seemed like it had been reduced so much it was almost grainy. Maps are essential and they should do better than this. Fortunately the notes are still included with each article for those who wish to do further reading or fact checking.

Much has been written about this magazine as of late. I must admit to not being overly familiar with earlier issues but I certainly hope they are able to return to the form I have read about. This issue didn't quite seem up to those high standards.