Summer 2013 Civil War Book Review Now Available

The Summer 2013 Civil War Book Review published through LSU Special Collections is now available online here. There look to be a couple of interesting books being discussed this quarter. Well worth a look.

Civil War Book Review--Summer 2011

From the good folks at LSU Libraries Special Collections here's the Summer 2011 CWBR.

This issue of Civil War Book Review highlights several works of new scholarship that help us to look at the war and wartime generation, providing a new way of understanding the human reality of the war.

Robert Cook's Civil War Senator: William Pitt Fessenden and the Fight to Save the American Republic (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
reminds us of the antebellum years, leading up to the secession crisis, when the war seemed a looming, but not necessarily present, cloud on the horizon. Cook reminds us of the role that individual politicians played in navigating the tenuous years leading up to the war.

Adam Goodheart explores, in 1861: The Civil War Awakening, the ways in which society stood up and recognized the reality of war during the first year by highlighting specific historical figures. These characters confronted the war, forced to feel their way through the uncertainty, in an effort to find their role during the course of the war.

In A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War, Amanda Foreman explores the drama that played out in the game of international politics wherein countless people interpreted the war and its course, influencing whether or not Great Britain would recognize the Confederacy or maintain friendly relations with the United States and Abraham Lincoln.

Finally, several essays, collected and edited by Susannah J. Ural explores how important groups within society experienced a war that significantly altered the notion of citizenship for ethnic and racial groups both North and South. Civil War Citizens: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in America's Bloodiest Conflict reminds us how deeply the Civil War affected all of American society as individuals sought to understand their role within this momentous event.

Professor Gary Gallagher graciously accepted an invitation to speak with Civil War Book Review about his new book, The Union War. Gallagher goes to great lengths to detail the concept of the word “Union” and what the war meant to the wartime generation. Furthering our understand of the actual people on the ground who deemed it necessary to don a uniform and risk death to fight during the war, Gallagher makes great strides to explain why Union soldiers chose to fight and how they described and remembered their experience.

We are thrilled to add a new element to Civil War Book Review in honor of the Civil War Sesquicentennial this quarter. Our new column, which will feature a different topic in each issue over the next four years, will seek to provide a pulse on the current historiography of that topic while providing some new avenues where we might need to push the scholarship or explore further. We hope that our readers will find this column useful with their own studies and understanding of some complicated topics. Our first installment features historian Russell McClintock who has written a fine piece on secession; we hope that the readers of Civil War Book Review enjoy this column and those to come in the future.

We also have a new columnist moving forward. Michael Taylor will be following in the footsteps of Leah Wood Jewett who has decided to hand over the reins to Mr. Taylor. We thank Leah, very much, for her insightful columns over the past years while we look forward to what Michael Taylor has in store for us. This quarter, he has chosen to introduce a new set of letters in the LSU Special Collections that highlight blockades and blockade runners in the area around Lake Ponchartrain in Louisiana, opening up new opportunities to explore a topic that has often been forgotten.

Civil War Book Review--Fall 2010

I recently received word that LSU Libraries had posted the new edition of their very popular and interesting Civil War Book Review.

The Civil War Book Review, a quarterly journal published by the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections Division, has released its Fall 2010 issue at www.cwbr.com.



While it is easy to question how anyone can possibly say anything new about the Civil War, time and again, we are encouraged by the richness and freshness of recently-published works by both young scholars and veteran historians. Civil War historians push one another to test the limits of historical research, seeking to approach old areas with a fresh perspective while continuing to uncover new subjects. Civil War Book Review is honored and proud to be a part of this public discussion as we seek to promote the further study of the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods, while providing accountability through peer review.


Continuing our Sesquicentennial recognition of those who fought in the American Civil War, the Fall 2010 issue features a portrait of Private George Henry Graffam, a member of Company B, 30th Maine Infantry, U.S.A. He was eighteen-years-old when he enlisted in the Union army.


In this issue, we feature the most recent books by two of our field’s leading experts, in addition to some stellar first-book scholarship from two young, promising scholars who continue to give us hope that the study of this period remains in capable hands. First, Daniel W. Crofts provides us with an intriguing mystery as he attempts (he succeeds) to uncover the true identity of the author of “The Diary of a Public Man” in A Secession Crisis Enigma, William Henry Hurlbert and the “Diary of a Public Man.”  Next, Michael T. Bernath’s first book, Confederate Minds: The Struggle for Intellectual Independence in the Civil War South, analyzes the Confederate efforts to achieve “intellectual independence,” the attainment and promotion of a southern identity through its own literature and periodicals, as part of the larger war effort. Mark W. Geiger examines the political and social upheaval which resulted from the failed attempt by a group of prominent Missouri state politicians and bankers attempted to fund Confederate volunteers using money from the state treasury in Financial Fraud and Guerrilla Violence in Missouri’s Civil War, 1861-1865. Finally, in
Edmund J. Davis: Civil War General, Republican Leader, Reconstruction Governor, Carl H. Moneyhon seeks to bring an important figure in Civil War-era Texas history into a more positive light, resurrecting his reputation through a better understanding this man’s complex life.


This fall, Leah Wood Jewett reminds us of the tolls that Civil War soldiers and their families paid as she uses the superb Special Collections at Louisiana State University to highlight the death inherent in any war. As part of a larger exhibition that features the women’s experience during the Civil War at Hill Memorial Library on the campus of LSU, Jewett’s column sheds light on the ways in which Civil War women confronted the death or potential of death for their loved ones.


In further recognition of the Sesquicentennial, Frank Williams has graciously provided us with a survey of the existing scholarship on Abraham Lincoln. He has generously taken the time to highlight a score of books that show the complex character of Lincoln and the range and diversity of historians’ efforts to better understand this prominent historical figure.


Unfortunately, we are unable to provide an author interview in this issue. We are still working to include the interview that we conducted for this issue but we have encountered technical difficulties that have waylaid our efforts to include the interview in the publication at this time. We will certainly continue our efforts to process the interview and we appreciate your understanding this quarter. This issue, and everything in it, would not be possible were it for the efforts of the staff at Civil War Book Review, LSU Libraries and Special Collections. I am, as always, grateful for their continued support. We certainly appreciate our readers as well and wish you all a wonderful, safe, and fulfilling Holiday season.


Civil War Book Review is published in the first week of the months of February, May, August, and November. If you would like to receive e-mail reminders of upcoming issues and special features on the website, click on “Sign me up for CWBR Updates!” link at the bottom of any page in the journal. From there, you can provide us with your contact information so that you will receive these e-mail reminders. Of course, we will NEVER share your personal information with any third party.


Civil War Book Review is the journal of record for new or newly reprinted books about the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras, and is a project of the United States Civil War Center, LSU Libraries Special Collections. A reader’s survey can be accessed through the CWBR homepage.


To contribute to the Civil War Book Review fund, or for information on editorial matters, contact Nathan Buman, Editor, by phone at (225) 578-3553 or by email at nbuman1@tigers.lsu.edu.
--
Civil War Book Review
Louisiana State University
Agnes Morris House
Raphael Semmes Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
(225) 578-3553 phone
(225) 578-4876 fax


Visit us on the web at www.cwbr.com!

***NOTE THE CHANGE IN OUR E-MAIL ADDRESS!***

Civil War Book Review--Summer 2010

I received an email today letting me know that the new Civil War Book Review is available online. Always worth checking out for new titles.

The Civil War Book Review, a quarterly journal published by the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections Division, has released its Winter 2009 issue at http://www.cwbr.com/.



As we approach the Civil War Sesquicentennial, one begins to wonder how we can possibly find anything new to discuss. It seems as if scholars and the followers of Civil War history have talked endlessly about the war but the books that continue to pour into our office, onto the shelves at book stores across the country, and into the hands of thousands of readers suggests otherwise. The promising works that continue to appear remind us that one can never completely understand the Civil War and all of its complicated and interwoven aspects fully; that is, again, the case with the Summer 2010 issue of Civil War Book Review.

I am pleased to announce a new feature for our site. In recognition of the Sesquicentennial, each quarter we will feature a different image in our editorial that highlights one specific soldier, North or South. We hope that this serves as a constant reminder of one of the very personal elements of the war as hundreds of thousands of men left their families to fight. This summer we have chosen a portrait of Private Sampson Altman, Jr., Company C, 29th Regiment Georgia Volunteers, C.S.A. Private Altman fought in the battle of Shiloh but died of disease on April 23, 1863.

The Summer 2010 issue of Civil War Book Review features a nice assortment of both new angles and new topics in Civil War history. Stephanie McCurry has asked us to; again, examine the notion of Confederate nationalism as we remember that the war disrupted all of society throughout the American South in Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South. The war served as a platform for women and slaves to become political actors, challenging the authority of the central government and McCurry tells this story quite effectively. Next, Donald Stoker offers the grandest of strategic investigations of the entire war in The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War. Stoker examines all aspects of the war, blending political and military details very successfully, to assert his belief that the war’s outcome boiled down, primarily, to President Lincoln’s superior strategic plan. In The Long Shadow of the Civil War: Southern Dissent and its Legacies, Victoria E. Bynum seeks to understand southern society, specifically, those pockets of southern dissent in Texas, North Carolina, and Mississippi where inner civil wars challenged the Confederacy’s success. Following emancipation and Reconstruction, Bynum details the legacy of these pockets of resistance after the failed attempt at southern independence as dissenters and former Confederates continued to live side-by-side. Finally, Benjamin Ginsberg, in Moses of South Carolina: A Jewish Scalawag during Radical Reconstruction, looks at one of the more peculiar characters in southern history, Franklin Moses, Jr. Moses, an ardent supporter of secession who served in the Confederate army as an officer, supported racial equality after the war provides a new lens for understanding the complexity of social relations across the South.
 Kenneth W. Noe was gracious enough to grant Civil War Book Review an interview to discuss his latest book, Reluctant Rebels: The Confederates Who Joined the Army after 1861. In the book and in the interview, Noe discusses those soldiers who resisted enlistment in the earliest months of the war, instead choosing to enlist for much more personal, localized motives, yet often fought with no less zeal and dedication than their veteran comrades.

This summer, Leah Wood Jewett has dug through the archives at Louisiana State University to find a collection of letters in which a prominent Louisiana planter pondered the coming presidential election. Her findings help us to understand the growing anticipation of the war as Americans looked forward pensively, just as we await the Civil War Sesquicentennial and begin to celebrate our look back at the conflict.

Since the previous issue, Civil War Book Review has relocated to a new office on the campus of Louisiana State University. Always a painstaking undertaking, the move was made much easier by the staffs of LSU Libraries and Special Collections; their help is appreciated greatly. Everything is in order and we look forward to continuing to provide our supportive readers and reviewers with the best publication possible.

Civil War Book Review is published in the first week of the months of February, May, August, and November. If you would like to receive e-mail reminders of upcoming issues and special features on the website, click on “Sign me up for CWBR Updates!” link at the bottom of any page in the journal. From there, you can provide us with your contact information so that you will receive these e-mail reminders. Of course, we will NEVER share your personal information with any third party.

Civil War Book Review is the journal of record for new or newly reprinted books about the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras, and is a project of the United States Civil War Center, LSU Libraries Special Collections. A reader’s survey can be accessed through the CWBR homepage.

To contribute to the Civil War Book Review fund, or for information on editorial matters, contact Nathan Buman, Editor, by phone at (225) 578-3553 or by email at nbuman1@tigers.lsu.edu.
--

Civil War Book Review

Louisiana State University

Agnes Morris House

Raphael Semmes Drive

Baton Rouge, LA 70803

(225) 578-3553 phone

(225) 578-4876 fax

Visit us on the web at http://www.cwbr.com/!

***NOTE THE CHANGE IN OUR E-MAIL ADDRESS!***

Civil War Book Review--Spring 2010

Just received this email from the LSU Libraries Special Collections. The Spring 2010 issue of Civil War Book Review is now online.

Long have historians studied history by examining the political actors and politics of those involved. In recent decades scholars have begun to focus their attention on social, economic, and cultural history yet political history continues to thrive. Political history remains a vibrant and viable lens through which to view past events, especially the American Civil War. Those political actors who guided the United States during the antebellum period, through the Civil War and into the Reconstruction period influenced the course of events immensely. 

The Spring 2010 issue of Civil War Book Review focuses heavily on the politics of the period. The newest addition to Louisiana State University Press’s Southern Biography Series, Sam Davis Elliott’s Isham G. Harris of Tennessee: Confederate Governor and United States Senator, focuses our attention on one of the key figures of the period’s political activity. Harris provides a look into the political world of the Civil War era as Elliot gives an account of his senatorial and gubernatorial experience in the often-disjointed state of Tennessee. Next, Stephen C. Neff details the legal issues that arose from the Civil War as he studies the lawfulness of many of the political decisions including secession, executive powers, and more in Justice in Blue and Gray: A Legal History of the Civil War. Howard Jones’s new synthesis, Blue & Gray Diplomacy: A History of Union and Confederate Foreign Relations provides a masterful account of the diplomatic relations between the northern and southern governments and the European powers, especially Great Britain and France. His study illustrates, at its best, the value of understanding political history as Jones gives an account of the actors who maintained a constant conversation with foreign powers about the possibility of intervention in the American conflict. Finally, eminent historian, Michael Perman provides a sweeping survey of southern politics. His most recent work, Pursuit of Unity: A Political History of the American South, take readers on a journey, narrating the political history of the American South from 1800 through the present-day political environment. 
 

Civil War Book Review would like to thank Professor Christian G. Samito for taking the time to discuss his recent book, Becoming American under Fire: Irish Americans, African Americans, and the Politics of Citizenship during the Civil War Era. In this, well-researched and well-argued study, Professor Samito raises a great number of significant questions about citizenship during the Civil War era. He graciously spoke with Civil War Book Review about some of the issues that arise out of his book as Irish Americans and African Americans sought to become a part of the United States, taking an active role in the politics of this nation. 

This quarter, Leah Wood Jewett provides an account of some Louisianan planters’ views on the question of secession. Their political course, dictated by the election of Abraham Lincoln, changed significantly over the months preceding secession of the state of Louisiana and Jewett has provided first-hand accounts that help us to explore and understand the complexity of the political world that these Louisianans occupied. 

I am pleased to be able to feature a wonderful piece in which Frank J. Williams uses Grant Havers’s recent work, Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love to examine the intersection between Christianity and Abraham Lincoln’s political actions. Williams has, yet again, provided an insightful piece of writing that uses a recent historical study of the Civil War era to reflect on our lives today. 

As always, this effort would not be possible were it not for the assistance and support that I receive daily from the staff at LSU Libraries and the Special Collections Department here at Louisiana State University. Their dedication and attention help to make this quarterly journal seem effortless and I thank them. 

Lastly, Civil War Book Review regrets that an error was made in a Winter 2010 review of Brian McGinty’s John Brown’s Trial. We would like to retract the criticism of Mr. McGinty for his usage of “Harper’s Ferry” in Jeannine Marie DeLombard’s review; the review incorrectly neglected to take into account the endnote in which Mr. McGinty details his usage over the more common “Harpers Ferry.”  

Civil War Book Review is published in the first week of the months of February, May, August, and November. If you would like to receive e-mail reminders of upcoming issues and special features on the website, click on “Sign me up for CWBR Updates!” link at the bottom of any page in the journal. From there, you can provide us with your contact information so that you will receive these e-mail reminders. Of course, we will NEVER share your personal information with any third party.

Civil War Book Review is the journal of record for new or newly reprinted books about the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras, and is a project of the United States Civil War Center, LSU Libraries Special Collections. A reader’s survey can be accessed through the CWBR homepage. 

To contribute to the Civil War Book Review fund, or for information on editorial matters, contact Nathan Buman, Editor, by phone at (225) 578-3553 or by email at nbuman1@tigers.lsu.edu.

Civil War Book Review--Winter 2010

Just received this email and thought I'd pass it along just in case you can't decide what to read next.

The Civil War Book Review, a quarterly journal published by the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections Division, has released its Winter 2009 issue at www.cwbr.com.

Historians of the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods often face the task finding new approaches in their studies because of the thriving popularity of these areas throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Scholars have discussed many topics thoroughly but, due to the constantly changing methodologies and evolution of the profession, new ground always remains. Ground-breaking scholarship succeeds in finding new avenues to discuss previously trodden subjects or uncovering new episodes of history altogether.

This, the Winter 2010 issue of Civil War Book Review, features exceptional scholarship that breaks ground in many different areas of specialization. In many ways, they look at topics that previous scholars have examined but they achieve new and promising heights through unique conclusions and a careful reinterpretation of the source material. Our first feature, Brian Schoen’s The Fragile Fabric of Union considers the dominant role that “King Cotton” played in the increasing sectional thinking and budding nationalism throughout the antebellum period, culminating in secession and the American Civil War. Next, David Work explores the role that politically appointed generals played in solidifying Lincoln’s presidency as he sought to build a national coalition to fight and win the war in Lincoln’s Political Generals. William L. Shea, prominent Civil War campaign historian, illustrates the importance of the Prairie Grove Campaign in effectively eliminating Confederate hope west of the Mississippi River. Based on daunting research and deft analysis, Shea shows readers, in great detail throughout Fields of Blood, the tactical maneuvers of the campaign. In our last feature, Barbara Brooks Tomblin turns the readers’ attention to the role that African Americans played in fighting the Civil War while projecting a broader message about what the war meant to African Americans who fought and died for their own freedom. Bluejackets & Contrabands will serve as an excellent bridge between the struggle for emancipation and the end of slavery during the war and the battle for civil rights and equality after the war.

Civil War Book Review is proud and honored to share an interview with Lacy K. Ford, Jr. who discussed with us, his latest book Deliver Us from Evil: The Question of Slavery in the Old South. He graciously took time to explore some of the highlights and themes of his book in which he breaks down the idea of a monolithic South in unanimous support of slavery, breaking ground en route to showing a more complex and evolving region.

In her column, Leah Wood Jewett has kindly shared some of the prized possessions of the Special Collections at Louisiana State University to illustrate and narrate the connection between our university and the American Civil War.

This quarter, we are blessed to feature an excellent and insightful column, written by Frank J. Williams, that explores the question of Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, providing his own analysis and using William Blair and Karen Fisher Younger’s recent collection of essays as a backdrop. The proclamation, Williams suggests is very complex and provides many opportunities for historians to consider or re-consider Lincoln’s politics, civil rights, and the meaning of the American Civil War to the American memory.

Again, I would like to thank the Special Collections Department and the staff at Louisiana State University for helping me to bring this issue to fruition. I believe we have a very strong Winter 2010 issue of Civil War Book Review that speaks to the evolving studies of the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods. It certainly is a treat, an honor, and a privilege to be able to share in this discussion with our readers.

Civil War Book Review is published in the first week of the months of February, May, August, and November. If you would like to receive e-mail reminders of upcoming issues and special features on the website, click on “Sign me up for CWBR Updates!” link at the bottom of any page in the journal. From there, you can provide us with your contact information so that you will receive these e-mail reminders. Of course, we will NEVER share your personal information with any third party.

Civil War Book Review is the journal of record for new or newly reprinted books about the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras, and is a project of the United States Civil War Center, LSU Libraries Special Collections. A reader’s survey can be accessed through the CWBR homepage.

To contribute to the Civil War Book Review fund, or for information on editorial matters, contact Nathan Buman, Editor, by phone at (225) 578-3553 or by email at nbuman1@tigers.lsu.edu.

--
Civil War Book Review
Louisiana State University
Agnes Morris House
Raphael Semmes Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
(225) 578-3553 phone
(225) 578-4876 fax

Visit us on the web at www.cwbr.com!

Website Review--Civil War Book Review

The summer 2009 Civil War Book Review has been posted by LSU Library.

The features this issue cover a wide range of topics from Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War written by Marc Egnal to Harold Holzer's new work Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter, 1860-1861.

Of note to many blog readers however will be the review of One Continuous Flight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 written by Eric Wittenberg, J. David Petrucci, and Michael Nugent. The book was published by Savas Beatie. Reviewer William Bushnell gives the book high marks calling it "entertaining, thoughtful, and well presented history,..." I'm sure many of us will be adding this to our collections soon.

There are many other books reviewed that can no doubt fill the hours until the weather begins to cool down. Overall a highly recommended site if you are looking for what to read next.

Web Site Review: Civil War Book Review

The Spring 2009 issue of Civil War Book Review has been issued. Be sure to check it out for information on some great Civil War titles. Abraham Lincoln is a major focus this year.

The Civil War Book Review is a quarterly published online by the LSU Library Special Collections. The lead featured review this quarter is Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by the legendary James McPherson. As the reviewer puts it this is another addition to the literature of Lincoln "hero-worship." A second feature review is General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse written by Joseph T. Glatthaar. The review has high praise and calls this not just a must read but a book that will be read, digested, and debated for years to come. High praise indeed. Included amongst the other reviews is an interview with Paul D. Escott author of "What Shall We Do With the Negro?": Lincoln, White Racism, and Civil War America. The interview is available in print or as an audio version.

Civil War Book Review is a great site that should be referenced by anybody wondering "What should I read next?" There are more than enough books reviewed to get you to the next issue. Dig in and enjoy the books!