I just plowed through one of the worst books on the Civil War I have ever seen. "Before Antietam, The Battle for South Mountain" by John Priest is AWFUL. He must have been paid by the word on this one. Maps that look as if they had been drawn on cocktail napkins. Long, droning descriptions of who had what for breakfast, who went to what party, and who disliked whom. A 350 page book that has about ten pages of useful information in it. I suspect that the author got a lot of soldiers' letters and editted them into a long rambling string. The author jumps around so much, that one can lose track of a thought within a sentence. The Iron Brigade's assault rated less than two pages. If you think the "Blair Witch Project" and "Gods and Generals" are excellent movies (they are not), you may tolerate this turkey. Or if you think reading a 6oo page Stephen King book is the good life, you might gag this one down. I read two or three books a week; and I usually don't bad mouth books; but I feel obliged to send out the warning on this one. Beware!
Calicoboy
__________________ My dear mother:- I have come safely through two more terrible engagements with the enemy, that at South Mountain and the great battle of yesterday (Antietam). Our splendid regiment is almost destroyed. We have had nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the battles. Seven of our officers were shot and three killed in yesterday's battle and nearly 150 men killed and wounded. All from less than 300 engaged. The men have stood like iron....Maj. Rufus Dawes, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
Calico:
At the time I read it, I was looking for the cumbersome detail you describe. Perhaps, if I tried it again, I might agree with you. For now, I'll agree that it is not an easy read, but if you want to know whose horse dumped where, it has its good points.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
I have read all of Cozzen's books and liked them a lot. Cozzen's books have a lot of useful material in them. I found myself skipping whole paragraphs of Priest's book just to get to something of merit. I do not mind "nit picky details"; but at some time there needs to be some real information. Anyone can string together details into a book. A good author has to find his or her own angle or insight, not just cut and paste.
Calicoboy
__________________ My dear mother:- I have come safely through two more terrible engagements with the enemy, that at South Mountain and the great battle of yesterday (Antietam). Our splendid regiment is almost destroyed. We have had nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the battles. Seven of our officers were shot and three killed in yesterday's battle and nearly 150 men killed and wounded. All from less than 300 engaged. The men have stood like iron....Maj. Rufus Dawes, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
Sam: Exactly where our resident cheezehead and I differ on the book. At the time I read it, I gleefully rolled around in the superfluous detail. If I were to think about rereading it today, I may well react as he did. I read it for the detail it offered. I'm older now and am not looking for the same things I once did.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Yes, the maps could have been better. Now, as to the details, it didn't have the details I wanted. DARN! I even wrote the author and he couldn't help. No, depending on the type of research you're doing, the details are exactly what you want. Personally, I'm glad I have the book and someday will spend some time wandering around South Mountain State Park.
For basic books, the Campaigns of the Civil War series is pretty hard to beat.
Gary:
I avoided that series for years because I'd heard Abner Doubleday's treatment of Gettysburg was intensely biased. Then I got Manning Force's treatment of the Fort's and started collecting them. An excellent series of overviews for a basic foundation.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Ole - please don't judge a series because of one man's submission. Heck, all writers are biased, self-serving and the entire series were written by Union men.
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