NF Books You Wish Were Written

Non-Fiction
Based on Amazon reviews it is dated with old sources
Yes, it IS old - like me - I think mine's probably a first edition from the 1960's. However, it amply covers the Shenandoah from New Market through Cedar Creek just like you asked for, plus has better and more maps than you are likely to find anywhere else! Besides, unlike Tanner's books on 1862 in the Valley, it's evenly balanced, giving the story fully from both sides. And when it all comes down the Valley Pike, aren't all books on the Civil War by now based on "old sources"?
 
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So out of curiosity I bought a used copy of the 2nd edition of this book on Amazon and am about 100 pages into it.

So out of curiosity I bought this one used on Amazon (the 2nd edition). It is not what @Joshism and I are looking for in a book study. New Market and Piedmont each get about 2 sentences each. The book really starts with Early being dispatched west to stop Hunter at Lynchburg. It's also a broad overview which is about all he could be for the size book it is and the amount of time and actions it is covering. To truly start at New Market and go all the way through Waynesboro with a detailed study as other campaigns get now would require multiple volumes.
 
Yes, it IS old - like me - I think mine's probably a first edition from the 1960's. However, it amply covers the Shenandoah from New Market through Cedar Creek just like you asked for, plus has better and more maps than you are likely to find anywhere else! Besides, unlike Tanner's books on 1862 in the Valley, it's evenly balanced, giving the story fully from both sides. And when it all comes down the Valley Pike, aren't all books on the Civil War by now based on "old sources"?

New Market barely gets a full paragraph in it.
 
New Market barely gets a full paragraph in it.
It's been quite a while since I read it and it's probably the first thing I read that covers the entire campaign, though I'm sure you're correct that the main thrust is on Sheridan's part of it. I highly recommend all of Gen. Stackpole's books, though you're right that they probably would work best as introductory volumes to their subjects.
 
It's been quite a while since I read it and it's probably the first thing I read that covers the entire campaign, though I'm sure you're correct that the main thrust is on Sheridan's part of it. I highly recommend all of Gen. Stackpole's books, though you're right that they probably would work best as introductory volumes to their subjects.

I loved reading They Met At Gettysburg as a teenager. They are a great starting point for the campaigns he wrote about
 
I'm very glad you decided to embark on this project - what led you to choose the 21st?
I worked at the Old court House Museum in Vicksburg for nine years - four of the companies in the 21st came from Vicksburg/Warren County, so we had plenty of artifacts related to the regiment in our holdings, including their flag. Seeing so much material related to the 21st got me interested in the regiment, and I decided to learn more. Since there was not a good regimental on the 21st, I decided I would just have to write one.
 
I worked at the Old court House Museum in Vicksburg for nine years - four of the companies in the 21st came from Vicksburg/Warren County, so we had plenty of artifacts related to the regiment in our holdings, including their flag. Seeing so much material related to the 21st got me interested in the regiment, and I decided to learn more. Since there was not a good regimental on the 21st, I decided I would just have to write one.
With all this (deserved) praise for Barksdale, I had hoped we could get some focus on Ben Humphreys and his boys. I'll gladly buy a copy when it's all done.
 
Somebody had this idea a few weeks ago, but a book that would encompass the entire 1864 Valley campaign. There are lots of books about 1 battle, or parts of it, but a book that started with New Market and ran all the way to Cedar Creek.
Agreed. I've been reading Davis, Knight, Patchan and Wert's books on the campaigns. Fantastic stuff. Only problem is, They don't cover every campaign and battle. Knight's and Davis' books on New Market flow well into Patchan's on Piedmont, but there is some air between with the arival of Early and II Corps, of the Battle of Monocacy and the "Siege" of Washington. I remember being recommended a book by Wittenberg, but can't remember it, and it only covered the Monocacy from what I've heard.
 
As I research for my books, there are a lot of regiments that do not have a history longer than 22 sentences in Dyer's. 126th is now 180+ pages and 106th is 140+. pages.

I have ideas for several books. Trans-Mississippi being a good topic. Such as 'The Army of Arkansas" Gen. Steele.

Not sure there is a biography of Gen. Steele or of Gen. E. A. Carr.

I also am always interested in Quartermasters. I own a couple of books about them.
 
I mean no disrepect to Peter Cozzens, and The Shipwreck of Their Hopes is really good, but the Chattanooga campaign could use a multi-volume treatment. The scuttlebutt has it that Dave Powell is doing a multi-volume study on the Atlanta campaign, and while I'll gladly splurge for the hardbacks of them, I still crave a Chattanooga study.
 
I mean no disrepect to Peter Cozzens, and The Shipwreck of Their Hopes is really good, but the Chattanooga campaign could use a multi-volume treatment. The scuttlebutt has it that Dave Powell is doing a multi-volume study on the Atlanta campaign, and while I'll gladly splurge for the hardbacks of them, I still crave a Chattanooga study.

It's not scuttlebutt. It's fact. Dave has already begun writing the first volume.

When it's done, I would not be at all surprised if Dave doesn't circle back and address Chattanooga. He's the logical guy to do so.
 
We're living in an interesting time for Civil War scholarship - whereas a few decades ago we were trying to tell people what the Army of Tennessee was, now we have whole studies of narrow aspects of once-obscure topics. However, there are always areas where we wish we could learn more, but just can't find much. What books do you want to read that haven't yet been published?

For me, I'd say we need:
- New biographies of Benjamin F. Cheatham, William B. Bate, Joseph B. Kershaw and Richard H. Anderson, at least;
- Unit histories for the Griffith-Barksdale-Humphreys, Lawton-Gordon-Evans, and Govan's Arkansas brigades
I'd like more on wartime Richmond. Books that are the Richmond equivalent of:

Reveille in Washington
Team of Rivals
Congress at War
Freedom
by William Safire
Lincoln by Gore Vidal
 
Ah, good. I'll read anything by Powell, of course, whatever it is.

Out of curiosity, what are your current projects?

I have three books in the process of publication. First is the complete Tullahoma Campaign study that I did with Dave Powell. That's due out late spring/early summer. That's a Savas-Beatie book.

Second is a book that I did with my friend the federal judge and his permanent law clerk. The title is Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and Creating West Virginia. I signed off on the page galleys last week. That will be going to the printer very shortly. That's also a Savas-Beatie book.

Third is a book titled Six Days of Awful Fighting: Cavalry on the Road to Cold Harbor that covers the period May 26-June 5, 1864, with emphasis on the cavalry battles at Hanovertown Ferry (May 27), Haw's Shop (May 28), Matedequin Creek (May 30), Hanover Court House (May 31), Cold Harbor (May 31), Ashland (June 1), and Cold Harbor again (June 1). Ten of the thirteen chapters have been edited. This features 25 good maps and about 60 images. This will be published by Fox Run Publishing toward the end of June.

My friend Jim Hessler and I are now working on some Indian Wars stuff.
 
@Eric Wittenberg You mentioned Minty on the Forgotten Commanders thread. Do you believe there would enough on him to rate a book and if so would you consider writing it sometime in the future?

John
 
I have three books in the process of publication. First is the complete Tullahoma Campaign study that I did with Dave Powell. That's due out late spring/early summer. That's a Savas-Beatie book.

Second is a book that I did with my friend the federal judge and his permanent law clerk. The title is Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and Creating West Virginia. I signed off on the page galleys last week. That will be going to the printer very shortly. That's also a Savas-Beatie book.

Third is a book titled Six Days of Awful Fighting: Cavalry on the Road to Cold Harbor that covers the period May 26-June 5, 1864, with emphasis on the cavalry battles at Hanovertown Ferry (May 27), Haw's Shop (May 28), Matedequin Creek (May 30), Hanover Court House (May 31), Cold Harbor (May 31), Ashland (June 1), and Cold Harbor again (June 1). Ten of the thirteen chapters have been edited. This features 25 good maps and about 60 images. This will be published by Fox Run Publishing toward the end of June.

My friend Jim Hessler and I are now working on some Indian Wars stuff.
Cool, I've already been saving my money for the Tullahoma book!

I'm always up for a hard look at Phil Sheridan, so I'll definitely look at the third option.
 
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