Civil War Bookshelf

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57360542009-11-04T09:43:35.186-05:00Civil War BookshelfAmerican Civil War historiography and publishing blogged daily by Dimitri Rotov.Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comBlogger3505125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-59475057520032543742009-11-04T09:33:00.002-05:002009-11-04T09:43:35.198-05:00Travails of a museum entrepreneur

From today's papers: Terry Thomann, director of the Civil War Life museum, said yesterday that he plans to close the attraction in the Southpoint I center [Spotsylvania] and in two weeks open a store at 829 Caroline St., in Fredericksburg to sell Civil War-related books, souvenirs, T-shirts and gifts.Let me break the tale down by excerpts: The Civil War Life Museum's move comes almost two years

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-18346993205501413732009-11-02T10:51:00.003-05:002009-11-02T11:07:09.280-05:00McPherson on Keegan

The New York Times, having issued a friendly but critical review of Keegan's new Civil War history returns to the book with an unfriendly review two weeks later. The new reviewer, McPherson, writes:The analytical value of Keegan’s geostrategic framework is marred by numerous errors that will leave readers confused and misinformed.The tone is friendly up until that point and the whole piece could

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-30927471805264361982009-10-29T10:02:00.003-04:002009-10-29T10:17:51.370-04:00Biggest-ever allocation for battlefields

From CWPT: The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) today applauded members of the U.S. House and Senate for including the largest ever single-year allocation for the federal Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Interior Appropriations Act Conference Report (H Rept 111-316).The conference report, scheduled for a final vote in both chambers later this week,

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-81680940748565504622009-10-28T18:54:00.004-04:002009-10-28T21:02:37.289-04:00Lincoln's books - where to get them?

We've all read Lincoln books, but few of us have ever read Lincoln's books. According to the new head of the National Endowment for the Arts, we're missing some good reading:This [Barack Obama] is the first president that [who] actually writes his own books since Teddy Roosevelt and arguably the first to write them really well since Lincoln.Well-written books by Abraham Lincoln: the NEA should

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-6394445000117521662009-10-26T14:54:00.002-04:002009-10-26T14:57:45.935-04:00Critics of historical fiction

An author of history-based fiction responds to criticism: ... the only requirement is for conjecture to be plausible and grounded in the best facts one can get. [...] What really disconcerts commentators, I suspect, is that, when they read historical fiction, they feel their own lack of education may be exposed; they panic, because they don't know which bits are true.

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-20199401916938844652009-10-26T13:15:00.002-04:002009-10-26T13:35:17.075-04:00Out and about

Went to Rehoboth Beach a couple of weeks ago and saw the new paperback edition of Betsy Rosen's Hallam's War on display at a shoreside bookshop. Congratulations, Betsy!(Visit beach = go to bookstore on the beach = vacation)Drove my bike from Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry on the canal path yesterday (loose clothing, no helmet, smoking) and noticed HF was jammed compared to the previous nice

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-90960162508838557982009-10-23T09:16:00.000-04:002009-10-23T09:16:00.272-04:00November, 1862

Post election, there were a lot of Lincoln/Obama parallels drawn. If McChrystal is relieved immediately after the November elections, we'll have another one.

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-61463289581652567172009-10-23T08:56:00.001-04:002009-10-23T09:06:30.035-04:00NSFW

Dr. Latschar is gone, leaving us this startling quote: "I never ever, ever searched for group sex or bestiality."

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-37697825480121470732009-10-22T21:30:00.003-04:002009-10-26T13:13:10.765-04:00CWPT's Larry Tagg interview

CWPT's Hallowed Ground is a newsstand-worthy glossy mag that you won't find on newsstands. You get it the in the mail if you are a member. (In my case, I recently got two back issues instead of the current issue. Perhaps those are the just desserts for all who join at a discounted member rate.)The magazine is online and there you will be able to access quite an interesting interview with Larry

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-50463502727912799672009-10-22T21:20:00.003-04:002009-10-22T21:29:31.157-04:00The better Abby responds

Abby reaches for some ACW content. Dear Abby: My husband and I are Civil War re-enactors. (My husband is a cannon soldier and I am a nurse re-enactor.) We would greatly appreciate it if you would remind your readers that if they come to any of the re-enactments to please not talk to the participants while they are firing weapons in "battle" because it could distract them. Something could go wrong

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-23793744535827730372009-10-19T17:29:00.006-04:002009-10-19T18:22:52.123-04:00WaPo puts the squeeze on Latschar

Gettysburg Park super John Latschar will feature in a great many blogs this week, so let me facilitate with a roundup.Sept. 17 - Latschar cleared of 17 allegations by a DoI IG report. ("...we discovered no evidence of criminality or conflict of interest in contracting practices providing construction management services for the museum and visitor's center.")Oct 16 - Latschar wins National Trust

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-5723172054711290052009-10-16T10:17:00.002-04:002009-10-16T10:43:45.176-04:00Keegan's Civil War

I never had much use for John Keegan except to enjoy his work as one would op-ed pieces. The views are occasionally enjoyable but the level of generalization (coupled with a lack of historic sensibility) will eventually irritate the careful reader.I mentioned here some years ago his starting the American Revolution on the wrong year (and then, McPherson-like, defending the factual error on

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-40870179169570669862009-10-16T10:14:00.002-04:002009-10-16T10:17:17.131-04:00The press discovers "cannonball"

Refreshing! Reporter uses the word "cannonball" instead of "bomb," "grenade," "shell," or "explosive." Big city reporters may be trainable.Meanwhile, what are the chances that alcohol was involved in this accident?

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-26535871911048892832009-10-14T13:10:00.002-04:002009-10-14T13:13:50.175-04:00The Lees of Stratford Hall

Quite a long and good article here on the Virginia Lees and their ancestral home, ending with notes on Robert E. Lee. (BTW, there is a contemporary house of similar magnificence erected by the Maryland Lees that sits near Crampton's Gap in a lovely grove.)

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-80836136260080885812009-10-14T12:53:00.002-04:002009-10-14T13:00:42.823-04:00Camp Pope liquidation

Clark Kenyon has sent a card to his mailing list announcing the closing of Camp Pope Bookshop as a retail operation and the staging of an inventory liquidation sale starting October 15 at www.camppope.com. On Nov. 15, when the sale ends, the website will present Camp Pope publishing (his marque's own books) while offering publishing services. This after 20 years of direct mail retail ...

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-79852347729689981272009-09-29T14:15:00.002-04:002009-09-29T14:24:32.812-04:00Gusher

As I play catch up compiling titles for listing on Civil War Book News, I am overwhelmed by the number of cheaply rushed-to-market reprints with no value added. Publishers are going to print with bicycles and seashores on their insta-covers; most shockingly, they can't be bothered to write a description of the book for Amazon or B and N where the title is listed.Here's someone who did design a

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-91253716027807473742009-09-26T21:55:00.002-04:002009-09-26T21:56:54.584-04:00A general uses his French

Shades of Halleck! (and Hardee and McClellan, et al).

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-26866742137427814722009-09-25T13:59:00.004-04:002009-09-25T14:18:20.040-04:00Lincoln's councils vs. Jomini's councils

Lincoln's persistence in forcing on McClellan councils of war reminds me of a passage in JFC Fuller's The Foundations of the Science of War in which he quotes Jomini at length. Fuller sets up the quote with an observation close to my own heart: during peace, generals "are always talking about command, and the qualifications of the commander, [then] the first thing they do when war is declared is

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-41348930055157969832009-09-24T12:35:00.005-04:002009-09-24T13:25:51.356-04:00Habitats of the great spotted errata

If you've ever tried to correct an error in Civil War publishing (or pontificating), have a laugh and be glad we aren't reading physics. (Incident is certified true in the first addendum.)

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-53282991012064289302009-09-23T12:59:00.005-04:002009-09-23T13:32:00.949-04:00McChrystal and ACW strategy

Civil War readers who want to stretch their strategy legs a bit might enjoy reading Stanley McChrystal's report to the sitting administration. Spoiler alert: don't read further down if you want fresh impressions from the link. Read the linked document first.***My view of the current general officer corps is reflected in an earlier post, and it strikes me that this is what you'd expect from that

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-72523080081700667652009-09-23T12:32:00.001-04:002009-09-23T12:34:12.506-04:00The antebellum duel

As conceived by Tony Millionaire.

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-72933440270987334502009-09-23T09:29:00.015-04:002009-09-23T10:29:00.792-04:00Journalist massacres Centralia story

Curious news: the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War appears to be dedicating a memorial to the Union victims of the Centralia massacre on Sunday. A memorial honoring the Rebels has been on the site since 2006, says the AP.Union catch-up after locals honored Bloody Bill Anderson?More likely, the crack journalists of the Associated Press have confused the Centralia Massacre with the

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-15727265365902988242009-09-23T09:22:00.003-04:002009-09-23T10:31:41.716-04:00History majors

History majors 1970/71 to 2003/04 ("the last academic year with available figures") declined from 18.5 percent to 10.7 percent of the undergraduate body.The author lumps history's decline in with that of the "literary humanities."

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-50800361314331168352009-09-17T15:28:00.003-04:002009-09-17T15:41:47.283-04:00ACW blogging

Larry Tagg is actively blogging again but the topics are presidential rather than ACW per se. I was worried about Larry but did not label his blogroll link "inactive".In fact, some inactive listings have come to life (glad I kept them on the blogroll).Billy Yank is back but the lure of the daily headline keeps him out of Civil War topics.Brian Dirck, whom I also labeled inactive for awhile, has

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5736054.post-61522420032718209332009-09-16T10:52:00.004-04:002009-09-16T11:48:50.598-04:00Earl Hess in the Trenches

There is much to like in Earl Hess's In the Trenches at Petersburg: Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat -- and I like it very much. This is a book that fills a gap, rounds off a good series, and breaks new ground. It has interesting (and necessary) information on nearly every page. The photos and diagrams add information and pleasure.Although Trenches may be an author's triumph it is –

Dimitrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04942033457041814117noreply@blogger.com