tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:04:00 +0000BooknotesBook ReviewsBook NewsReviews - Campaigns and BattlesReviews - Theater - WestReviews - Theater - Trans MississippiReviews - Theater - EastReference Books/Research MaterialsReviews - Civil War SocietyReviews - BiographyReviews - Unit HistoriesReviews - NavalReviews - PoliticsComing SoonBook SnapshotsReviews - Diaries/ Letters/ MemoirsAuthorsReading ListsReviews - Guides and Map StudiesPublishersReviews - Indian ConflictsReviews - Theater - Far WestInterviewsReviews - Essay CollectionMagazines and JournalsReviews - Civil War EconomyFive books on ... seriesReviews - CW MedicineSnapshots from the CollectionReviews - Photographic StudiesTexas Revolution / U.S. - Mexican WarReviews - Archaeology/Material CultureReviews - Environmental HistoryNon-fiction American Civil War book reviews, commentary, industry news, interviews, reading lists, and profiles of upcoming releases.https://cwba.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)Blogger3944125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-7608263848120865649Sun, 19 Jul 2026 01:54:59 +00002026-07-19T09:36:14.290-07:00Book NewsSomething brought up in Friday's book review needs to be corrected. On the matter of Jonesboro battle studies that are in the works, I've just heard direct from the most reliable source (Gary Ecelbarger himself) that he is not working on a Jonesboro book either independently or in partnership with anyone else. It's funny how the author rumor mill gets momentum. I don't know how may times I read https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/07/correction.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-3287545187803486750Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:38:22 +00002026-07-18T18:26:24.446-07:00Book ReviewsReviews - Campaigns and BattlesReviews - Theater - West[A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Volume 2: Jonesboro, Lovejoy's Station and the Capture of Atlanta by David Allison (Author, 2025). Paperback, 3 maps, photos, endnotes, appendix section, index. Pages main/total:vi,242/438. ISBN:9798273780811. $19] David Allison's A Summer of Battles - The Final Weeks of the Civil War's 1864 Atlanta Campaign, https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/07/review-summer-of-battles-final-weeks-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-5771373080133300916Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:02:29 +00002026-07-15T10:02:29.153-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • The Federal Signal Service at Antietam: Stations, Officers and Battlefield Intelligence on America's Bloodiest Day by Cory M. Pfarr (McFarland, 2026). If you are a dedicated reader of Civil War military history you pick up bits and pieces of information about the U.S. Army Signal Corps service on a fairly regular basis, but if I had to pick a single publication that impressed me https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/07/booknotes-federal-signal-service-at.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-3524042563449475996Mon, 13 Jul 2026 23:59:35 +00002026-07-13T16:59:35.578-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Unparalleled Horror: The Battles of Jerusalem Plank Road and the Crater, June 19-July 31, 1864 by Sean Michael Chick and John F. Schmutz (Savas Beatie, 2026). Sean Chick's A Grand Opening Squandered: The Battle for Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864 (2025) marked the start of a five-volume ECW sub-series that will trace the entire 1864-65 Richmond-Petersburg Campaign from beginning tohttps://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/07/booknotes-unparalleled-horror.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-5952755690393456008Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:01:28 +00002026-07-08T08:01:28.060-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Forward to Richmond: The Virginia Campaign of 1862 by Brian K. Burton (Univ of Neb Press, 2026). University of Nebraska Press and imprint Bison Books started the Great Campaigns of the Civil War series back in 1999 with Steven Woodworth's Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns. These are not detailed microhistories, the focus being more on broader https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/07/booknotes-forward-to-richmond.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-6243771491668122349Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:17:10 +00002026-07-06T10:17:10.766-07:00Book ReviewsReviews - Naval[This Great Contest Afloat: The Civil War on the Seas, Coastline, Rivers, and Oceans by Neil P. Chatelain (Savas Beatie, 2026). Softcover, maps, photos, illustrations, appendix section, reading list. Pages main/total:xxv,147/192. ISBN:978-1-61121-777-3. $16.95] Adequately summarizing the Civil War naval component's enormous impact on Union victory and Confederate defeat requires not only the https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/07/review-this-great-contest-afloat-civil.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-3496724660640386335Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:44:51 +00002026-07-02T08:44:51.044-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • An Officer of Six Navies: The Life of Confederate Commander Hunter Davidson by John M. Coski & Charles T. Jacobs (Savas Beatie, 2026). Born at Georgetown in the District of Columbia but possessing Virginia family roots, Hunter Davidson (1826-1913) lived a long life that included a long and eventful naval career. Even though Confederate naval officers and their Civil War https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/07/booknotes-officer-of-six-navies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-8926619594067794300Tue, 30 Jun 2026 21:40:48 +00002026-06-30T14:40:48.720-07:00Book ReviewsReviews - Photographic Studies[Civil War Photo Forensics: Investigating Battlefield Photographs Through a Critical Lens by Scott Hippensteel (University of Tennessee Press, 2026). Hardcover, 128 photos, tables, appendix section, endnotes, index. Pages main/total:xi,179/211. ISBN:979-8-89527-087-5. $39.95] Thousands of Civil War battlefield photographs have survived the ravages of time, gifting researchers and enthusiasts https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/review-civil-war-photo-forensics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-5497849877167871090Sat, 27 Jun 2026 18:29:42 +00002026-06-27T11:29:42.597-07:00Coming Soon Scheduled for JULY 20261: • Forward to Richmond: The Virginia Campaign of 1862 by Brian Burton. • Civil War Chaos in Texas: The Tumultuous Tenure of Governor Pendleton Murrah by Lori Duran. • An Officer of Six Navies: The Life of Confederate Commander Hunter Davidson by Coski & Jacobs. • Unparalleled Horror: The Battles of Jerusalem Plank Road and the Crater, June 19-July 31, 1864 by Chickhttps://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/coming-soon-july-26-edition.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-4711400687182117457Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:33:51 +00002026-06-25T13:58:44.918-07:00Book ReviewsReviews - Biography[Abraham Lincoln and the Heroic Legend: Reconsidering Lincoln as Commander in Chief by Kenneth W. Noe (Louisiana State University Press, 2026). Hardcover, 7 maps, photos, notes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:xix,278/420. ISBN:978-0-8071-8521-6. $49.95] Civil War readers raised on the vast body of post-Centennial publications can be forgiven for assuming that profound admiration for https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/review-abraham-lincoln-and-heroic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-8880734560794821103Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:07:18 +00002026-06-22T09:07:18.277-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Through the Civil War with the 14th Ohio Infantry: Horatio Quiggle’s Memoir of Service, 1861-1865 edited by Joanna R. Hagopian & David A. Powell (Savas Beatie, 2026). Ohioan Horatio Quiggle was as dedicated a Union soldier as one could be. "He initially joined the 14th Ohio Infantry, a three-month militia unit from northwestern Ohio, in April 1861. After its term expired thathttps://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/booknotes-through-civil-war-with-14th.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-3941196002791952069Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:43:08 +00002026-06-19T07:43:08.899-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • The Fenian Empire: A Hemispheric History of Irish Republican Nationalism by Patrick J. Mahoney (NYU Press, 2026). Most visitors to this site have at least some notion, vague as it might be, of the impact of those involved in the Fenian Movement and their activities in North America during the Civil War era. The war itself produced a large body of experienced fighters, but where https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/booknotes-fenian-empire.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-875008716161302411Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:25:06 +00002026-06-18T08:34:42.872-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Retreat from Victory: The Battle of Malvern Hill and the End of the Seven Days, July 1, 1862 by Francis Augustín O’Reilly (Savas Beatie, 2026). With book-length popular and scholarly histories detailing Civil War battles of all sizes and significance released in great numbers over the years, one might have expected that all of the big fights of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, and https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/booknotes-retreat-from-victory.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-328516490981799796Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:33:11 +00002026-06-17T14:17:45.230-07:00Book NewsIt's that time of year again when the university presses roll out their upcoming seasonal catalogs. Overall numbers aren't terribly high (they would be higher if we include Civil War-adjacent stuff), but I am really liking the range of topics spread out across the board. LSU: • How Lincoln Won: The 1860 Presidential Election and the Origins of the Civil War by DeWitt & Schwartz. • https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/fallwinter-university-press-catalogs-26.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-3226955442114731525Fri, 12 Jun 2026 14:58:02 +00002026-06-12T07:58:02.812-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • The U.S. Navy Medical Department in the Civil War by Guy R. Hasegawa (McFarland, 2026). During the Civil War, the United States Navy sustained active operations in some of continent's most dangerously unhealthy climes, those extreme challenges to personnel fitness under extended periods of close confinement being one of the more understudied aspects of the service. From the https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/booknotes-us-navy-medical-department-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-2357346059578737039Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:53:18 +00002026-06-10T09:53:18.252-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • The Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign: February 6–16, 1862 edited by Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear (SIU Press, 2026). Southern Illinois University Press's Civil War Campaigns in the Heartland essay anthology series, edited by Steven Woodworth, opened its doors in 2009 with the publication of The Shiloh Campaign. From the start, planning was very ambitious (see series https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/booknotes-forts-henry-and-donelson.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-1699508236088420849Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:08:31 +00002026-06-08T08:08:31.427-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Rebels and Regimes: The Nature of Violent Resistance in the Nineteenth Century edited by Andrew Fialka & Aaron Sheehan-Dean (LSU Press, 2026). From the description: Rebels and Regimes "presents a global view of the nature of violent resistance throughout the nineteenth century. The volume’s breadth and scope reveal commonalities and differences among regimes and insurgents https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/booknotes-rebels-and-regimes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-80378310278902277Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:25:54 +00002026-06-05T10:25:54.434-07:00Book ReviewsReviews - Campaigns and BattlesReviews - NavalReviews - Theater - West[Decisions on Western Waters: The Twenty-Seven Critical Decisions That Defined the Battles by Michael D. Becker (University of Tennessee Press, 2026). Softcover, 10 maps, photos, illustrations, driving tour, orders of battle, glossary, notes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:xv,142/290. ISBN:979-8-89527-045-5. $24.95] Naturally enough, the major land campaigns and battles fought in the https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/review-decisions-on-western-waters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-5294181942531224549Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:06:01 +00002026-06-03T08:06:01.883-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Out of This Strife Will Come Freedom: Free People of Color and the Fight for Equal Rights in the Civil War Era by Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr. (UNC Press, 2026). In the introduction to his book Out of This Strife Will Come Freedom: Free People of Color and the Fight for Equal Rights in the Civil War Era Warren Eugene Milteer argues that his fellow historians "have done little to https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/new-arrival-out-of-this-strife-will.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-9081611502460533163Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:15:19 +00002026-06-01T09:15:19.470-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Henry Eustace McCulloch: Texas Ranger, Legislator, Civil War General by David Paul Smith (LSU Press, 2026). Parlaying his considerable antebellum frontier military service into a position in the Confederate high command typically reserved for West Pointers, Texan and brigadier general Ben McCulloch led southern armies in the two most prominent early-war battles fought west of thehttps://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/06/booknotes-henry-eustace-mcculloch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-2957515995868747734Sun, 31 May 2026 15:09:17 +00002026-05-31T08:09:17.688-07:00Coming Soon Scheduled for JUN 20261: • Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville: A Battlefield Guide by Brian Burton. • Emancipation War: The Fall of Slavery and the Coming of the Thirteenth Amendment by Damon Root. • The Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign: February 6–16, 1862 by Woodworth & Grear, eds. • The Federal Signal Service at Antietam: Stations, Officers and Battlefield Intelligence on America's https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/05/coming-soon-june-26-edition.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-2604216114659800410Thu, 28 May 2026 10:30:00 +00002026-05-28T07:20:27.142-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Emancipation War: The Fall of Slavery and the Coming of the Thirteenth Amendment by Damon Root (Potomac Bks, 2026). From the description: "Speaking to a fractured country for the first time as president, Abraham Lincoln endorsed a constitutional amendment designed to permanently safeguard slavery in every state in which the institution already existed. If that proslavery https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/05/booknotes-emancipation-war.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-8506809324190610287Tue, 26 May 2026 18:40:03 +00002026-05-26T11:40:03.859-07:00Book ReviewsReviews - Civil War Society[Shattered Courage: Soldiers Who Refused to Fight in the American Civil War by Earl J. Hess (University Press of Kansas, 2026). Hardcover, photos, illustrations, endnotes, bibliography, index. Pages main/total:ix,202/265. ISBN:978-0-7006-4095-9. $39.99] With a vast body of firsthand accounts and other primary sources readily available for writers to consider, exploring Civil War battlefield https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/05/review-shattered-courage-soldiers-who.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-7648853856588642863Sat, 23 May 2026 16:54:07 +00002026-05-23T09:54:07.351-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • Ulysses’s Odyssey: Ulysses S. Grant’s World Tour at the Dawn of American Empire by Louis L. Picone (Savas Beatie, 2026). From the description: "In May 1877, Ulysses S. Grant, newly departed from two terms in the White House, embarked on an extraordinary three-year journey that defined a pivotal moment in the Gilded Age. Driven by a lifelong passion for travel and unburdened by a https://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/05/booknotes-ulyssess-odyssey.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16471073.post-6446034457282391208Wed, 20 May 2026 20:50:01 +00002026-05-20T13:50:02.064-07:00BooknotesNew Arrival: • From the Center of America: Steamboats and Shipyards Along the Lower Ohio River by Robert H. Swenson (SIU Press, 2026). From the description: "In the heart of America, four major rivers converge―the Cumberland and Tennessee with the Ohio; then the Ohio with the Mississippi. These three confluences, which author Robert Swenson christens the Four Rivers Reach, played a unique rolehttps://cwba.blogspot.com/2026/05/booknotes-from-center-of-america.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DW@CWBA)0