No comments about Inside the Confederate Government: The Diary of Robert Garlick Hill Kean (Civil War Paperbacks).

1 comments about Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in 1860-'61.

1. Abner Doubleday presents a unique account from the Union side of the events leading up to and including the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, which ignited the American Civil War. His first-person details from inside the garrison are hard to find elsewhere. He was such a staunch Unionist that he recalls being the only officer of the garrison in favor of the election of Lincoln. He continually protests against what he saw as the inaction of his own commanders and higher echelons. He felt that the Rebellion could have been nipped in the bud, had proper action been taken. From the foregoing, it should be apparent that sympathizers of the Confederacy will disagree with Doubleday on many points. I should point out that there is only limited evidence that Abner Doubleday had anything to do with the invention of baseball. He did, however, earn a Congressional Medal of Honor at Gettysburg.

3 comments about One Day of the Civil War: America in Conflict April 10, 1863.

1. This is a well-researched and very well-written book. I think you will enjoy it if you have any interest at all in history. I am not a Civil War buff, though I have read a few books on it, but found this one terrifically interesting. The author gets into the details of soldiering -- picket (sentry) duty with its long periods of boredom and tedium interspersed with moments of attack and terror, garrison life, drills, train raids, naval maneuvers, and makes it all come alive. Unlike a lot of worm's eye only books, this on does also get into higher strategy among the generals and even Lincoln and his cabinet. If you like this book, you'll like "The Long Surrender" and vice versa. I was fascinated by the soldiers on each side sending toy sailboats across rivers, taking tobacco one way and real coffee the other, and also exchanging newspapers and catcalls between the Yankees and the Rebels. A really fascinating slice of life, and an interesting contrast, for me as a former soldier, in how America's armies fought wars in 1863 and 1968.



2. April 10, 1863. No major battles were fought. No generals died. The summer's major offensives had not yet begun. So why did Robert Willett choose this day to write about? It was the day the Civil War was half over. The beauty of the book is that without the complex nature of battle we get to read what few others detail -- the complex nature of men at war. And it works! He quotes heavily from personal diaries (a refreshing break from authors who think that rewriting the Official Records qualifies as research). One lengthy quote describes, for example, the election of a Confederate officer by his men. Another, a letter from a suitor to his girlfriend. Other pieces of non-war life abound throughout. And just because there were no major battles, there is plenty of action. Skirmishes, a siege, and the deadiliest enemy of all - disease. I have read many Civil War epochs, and there are many good ones, but Willett's choice of a quiet (relatively) day gives the reader a chance to get to know the men who were fighting.



3. When I first saw this book my initial thought was this is the kind of book you should expect on a topic that has been written about in a thousand different ways and where there are no new ways apparently to look at it, so come up with a gimmick. And Willett's gimmick was to simply pick the exact midpoint on the calendar of the Civil War, which turns out to be April 10, 1863, and then to relate as much detail as he could find regarding events on that day. Not that that day might have any significance over April 9th or May 5th, etc., just that it's the half-way point. A convenient nail to hang one's hat on.
   
   But I was wrong, and as I began reading the book I saw the gimmick worked, and Willett was able to make something meaningful out of it. On April 10th, a sharp engagement took place at Franklin, Tennessee, when Confederates under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn attacked Federals stationed there (unsuccessfully); this is Willett's major event of the day: he devotes a full chapter to it (nothing about it appears in BATTLES AND LEADERS and Shelby Foote doesn't mention it in his 3-volume narrative history). Willett, of course, gives almost an hour-by-hour account, along with its after effects up through the 12th. For all its details and minutiae (included are excerpts from soldier's letters of that day, newspaper accounts, and, of course, official reports) he makes it interesting.
   
   Willett truly leaves nothing out. He describes what was going on that day in Washington, Richmond, with Lincoln reviewing troops at Falmouth, on the seas and the Mississippi, in the Far West (Humboldt and Cottonwood, Kansas), and scores of other places. He relies on letters to make events human and personal, for participants as well as the folks back home. Certainly unique is his inclusion of an appendix that records every casualty of that Friday long ago.
   
   So this book deserves a spot on the shelf of respectable works on the Civil War, and not on the ever-growing pile of superfluous tomes it's title might imply. Well done!

No comments about African Americans in the Spanish Civil War: "This Ain't Ethiopia, but It'll Do".

2 comments about A Rising Star Of Promise: The Wartime Diary And Letter Of David Jackson Logan, 17th South Carolina Volunteers 1861-1864 (Battles & Campaigns of the Carolinas).

1. This book does an outstanding job of following David Jackson Logan's life during the Civil War, through letters to his wife and family, letters to the newspaper, and his diary. I am fortunate to have already known what an outstanding man David Jackson Logan was, as well as, his father, John Randolph Logan, and his siblings. Especially David's brother Ben F. Logan, my great-great grandfather. I hope everyone enjoys reading this incredible book.



2. This compilation of David Jackson Logan's writings detailing his experiences during the Civil War is second to none! You won't be able to put this outstanding book down until you've finished it. The authors have melded all sources into an unforgettable book.

No comments about Nurse and spy in the Union army: comprising the adventures and experiences of a woman in hospitals, camps and battle-fields / by S. Emma E. Edmonds..

1 comments about The Alabama Confederate Reader (Library of Alabama Classics).

1. The late Dr. Malcolm McMillan, Head of the History Department of Auburn University, offers the only thoroughly-researched documentary of Alabama's role in the Confederacy. Utilizing the painstaking research for which he was well-known, Dr. McMillan manages to assemble a multitude of primary documents in a highly readable and valuable history. Providing his own short narratives as a segue, he produced the most comprehensive work on Alabama as a Confederate State. Just as his "Constitutional Development In Alabama" remains the most authoritative work on Alabama's six constititutions, his "Confederate Reader" is of such value that its mere existence has warded off foolhardy attempts by modern historians to duplicate or enhance it. This reviewer would also recommend Dr. McMillan's last work, concerning Alabama's three Civil War governors. Together with the "Confederate Reader", Dr. McMillan managed in his lifetime to achieve that level of pre-eminence occupied by Thomas Owen and A.B. Moore. Today's historians would do well to emulate the devotion of Dr. McMillan to research, the fundamental element of quality in historical writing.

1 comments about Why Doc Holliday Left Georgia.

1. I've read several historical books about Doc Holliday and his family. The book by Gene Carlisle, "Why Doc Holliday Left Georgia" has got to be the WORST book on Doc Holliday I've read. It is filled with long drawn out court transcripts that have NOTHING to do with Doc Holliday and very little to do with his family. When Carlisle is not boring you with blow-by-blow court transcripts, he is filling in supposed historical information about Doc with words like, "We can only imagine" or "Doc probably". There is very little FACT-BASED information on Doc in this book. My personal favorite was Carlisle's assumption that a newly graduated Dr. John H. Holliday showed up for work drunk, hung over with a whore on his arm. All this is speculated because the Dentist Doc worked under in Atlanta moved his office to a larger location,thus ending his working relationship with Doc. John Henry Holliday was born to an upperclass well educated and refined Southern Family. He would have NEVER come to work drunk. Especially since he had just graduated dental school and was anxious to start his career. If Doc Holliday fans want to read a true and accurate account of the famous dentist they should read Gary L Roberts' Book (Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend) or Karen Holliday Tanner's Book (Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait). Don't waste your money like I did and purchased G. Carlisle's Book.

2 comments about Spain's Cause was Mine: A Memoir of an American Medic in the Spanish War.

1. "Spain's Cause Was Mine: A Memoir of an American Medic in the Spanish Civil War," by Hank Rubin, is a well-written and enlightening narrative. A large chunk of the book details the long odyssey that took him from Los Angeles and through France enroute to service in Spain--a quest taken in defiance of an international non-intervention pact. This section of the book is a real adventure story with an almost dystopian flavor.
   
   Equally fascinating is the portion of the book detailing his actual time with the Spanish army, during which he served in a machine gun squad and as a medical laboratory technician. Rubin explores the unique challenges in putting together a multinational, multiethnic, and multilingual fighting force. He details the illness, discomfort, and deprivations that the troops endured in order to uphold their ideals.
   
   In addition to covering such down-to-earth issues as mail call and footgear, Rubin also offers some potent reflections on wartime morality and medical ethics. Particularly interesting are his thoughts on the impact of his Jewish identity on his decision to enlist. His writing style is largely straightforward, but graced with occasional passages of great beauty and power.
   
   Rubin's narrative really educated me about the unique place of Spanish Civil War veterans in the United States. This book is a valuable and enjoyable addition to the canon of American military memoirs.



2. One of my main historical interests is the Spanish Civil War and the role played in it by the International Brigades to combat Franco's Nationalist forces. I read "Spain's Cause Was Mine" a couple of years ago, but I recently revisited it and was once again struck by the humanity, nobility and idealism of Hank Rubin. Any historian of the International Brigades will tell you, that a good number of volunteers were college students. Rubin begins his account by retelling how, while sitting on the steps of the UCLA library, someone approached him and asked him if he would like to fight in Spain. He replied 'yes.' So begins his journey from college student to volunteer, to medic, to casualty, and cecoming ultimately, survivor. Rubin provides a simple yet poignant narrative of what went through his mind and what all the volunteers had to face in combat. While initally, disappointed that he was not assigned to front-line duty, he came to appreciate his role behind the scenes. This actually, allowed him to absorb it all and put down his thoughts in writing.
   
   Rubin writes about some of the brutal campaigns from Brunete to Teruel and Grañen. He also places the Spanish Civil War in an international context, noting Germany and Italy's aid to Franco's troops and the US position of maintaining an embargo against the Spanish Second Republic. To anyone knowledgeable about the Spanish Civil War, this isn't anything new. However, coming from an actual participant, who was fully aware of his own government's indirect complicity in causing the demise of the Spanish Second Republic, it is worth reading.
   
   I was touched by a poem written by Rubin following the death of a comrade at arms, who he was unable to save in the medic tent. It captures fear, hesitation and pain that too often accompanies any soldier who goes off to war. I quote it here: "From far away, from Everett on the Puget Sound with the peace of its water the serenty of its green hlls you came from so far to a dusty plain, to mountains without peace. You expected to fly to strike the enemy boldly from the sky, guns roaring your strong hands guiding your plane, triggering your guns. Instead you had to fight on foot, did you ever expect to die? To have a bullet in your head? To suffer your guts torn apart? And was it worth it? Was the pain too much? Was there even pain for you? Was the cost of death too high?
   
   This is an excellent memoir from someone who participated in an event that far too many Americans are unaware of. I recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about the Spanish Civil War. Other recommended books along this vein: Peter Carroll's "The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade," and "American Commander in Spain," by Marion Merriman and Warren Lerude.

No comments about Yale's Confederates: A Biographical Dictionary.