Civil War Book of the Month (VOTE NOW! June 2013)

Please vote for the book you think is worthy of the title "Civil War Book of the Month - June 2013".

  • #1 The Longest Raid of the Civil War

    Votes: 5 6.3%
  • #2 The New Gettysburg Campaign Handbook

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • #3 A Chain of Thunder: A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg

    Votes: 6 7.5%
  • #4 AMBROSE: Civil War Journey

    Votes: 6 7.5%
  • #5 Gettysburg (Sears)

    Votes: 24 30.0%
  • #6 Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage

    Votes: 7 8.8%
  • #7 War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865

    Votes: 4 5.0%
  • #8 The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command

    Votes: 9 11.3%
  • #9 John Bell Hood: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Confederate General

    Votes: 10 12.5%
  • #10 Encyclopedia of the Confederacy

    Votes: 6 7.5%

  • Total voters
    80
  • Poll closed .
Stephen (Sam) Hood gave me the opportunity to assist in several small ways to the creation of his new book regarding his second cousin Confederate General John Bell Hood. As a direct descendant of a Union soldier (my great grandfather was a member of the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry) I initially brought a predictable bias to our discussions relative to the General. Naturally I assumed Sam would do the same. But, with the passage of about five years, examination and transcription of copies of some of the newly recovered records and frequent discussions with Sam I have been able to add significantly to knowledge of General Hood at a personal, military and professional level and see him much differently than I once had. Sam has spent nearly 10 years conducting an exhaustive search of original records, challenging misconceptions while maintaining an unemotional, objective approach throughout the creation of his book. (It ships tomorrow!). I strongly recommend it and ask that interested students of the war read it with an open mind. As a result of the honor of being involved with this effort I have developed a sense of skepticism toward contemporary "non-fiction". We need to challenge opinion, check footnotes and sources and confirm FACTS. Opinion, innuendo and creation of titillating theories may make for good reading, but it makes for poor history. If an author chooses to include theory and opinion it should always be clearly identified as such and conform to known facts.

There's nothing quite like reading and transcribing dozens of letters the gentlemen General Hood wrote to his wife and children to begin to feel you know the man. Some modern authors really got him wrong. He was typical of leaders on both sides of the Civil War who fought for their beliefs to the best of their ability and made huge personal sacrifices in the effort. Unfortunately for him, he was not on the winning side, and like Longstreet, became a convenient whipping post for Lost Cause advocacy. He made his share of mistakes and won his share of victories; didn't they all?!
 
Not sure why not. The book! is a pdf, which can be downloaded to the puter and read at your leisure. As it was a special edition, not sure if this was ever available as a free standing book.No real difference from reading google books online, or other papers, documents, etc. I upload most of my dvds and cds to my system for easy access. the Army and Navy OR's, the Confederate Veteran, Photograph history of the War, SHSP's, etc. Did have the Confederate Military History on previous puters, but not uploaded to this one.

Without the vaunted "high-speed internet" MY computer refuses to even open them; and sitting in front of this thing is scarcely the way I like to read ANYTHING! Actually using it as a word processor to compose and then post articles and/or manipulate photographs is different, and I don't know any better. But it's kind of hard to do in restaraunts, coffee shops, or while in bed - and don't even THINK about overpriced electronic trash like "Kindle"! So anything resembling the thing you describe simply won't be read, at least not by me.
 
Haven't read too many of these yet, but of the ones I have I like the Sears book the best. I'm reading The Last Invasion right now. Both are really similar. I might come out of it all liking The Last Invasion a little better. Maybe that's because it's just the one I'm currently reading.
 
Without the vaunted "high-speed internet" MY computer refuses to even open them; and sitting in front of this thing is scarcely the way I like to read ANYTHING! Actually using it as a word processor to compose and then post articles and/or manipulate photographs is different, and I don't know any better. But it's kind of hard to do in restaraunts, coffee shops, or while in bed - and don't even THINK about overpriced electronic trash like "Kindle"! So anything resembling the thing you describe simply won't be read, at least not by me.

That's pretty harsh. I love my Kindle. So do most folks who have one. Don't trash what you haven't tried. You know, one of the reasons I bought it was because you can read in the dark without a booklight (which is quite dangerous in a car when we old folks are driving through deer country). Don't get me wrong...I just bought several books in the past week (including ordering the Hood book)....but for sheer portability and convenience, I can't beat a Kindle.
 
Kindle can be a great way to read a book and of course less storage is needed but many people have bought "Ambrose" in hardcover or soft to get it signed too. We personally have bookshelves filled to the top with our Civil War Collections and I enjoy going back to them and browsing them as well as our many house guest can grab them and read them while they are here and borrow them when they leave. I have always loved to grab a real book but Kindle has its place at appointments, beach side or on planes. However we read will always keep us sharp and learning! Read ON ----- Civil Warriors !!!!!!
 
I have not read any of these books so I can't really vote for one. But that all look like great reads. The two that appeal to me the most are Hood and Ambrose.
 
Hard to choose among the Gettysburg books. I read Coddington first, loved it. Later read Sears and found it better as to clarity and narrative form. By the time I read Trudeau I guess I learned so much from the other two that though I liked it, it didn't make much of an impression on me. So I voted Sears, though Guelzo's recent 'Gettysburg - The Last Invasion' has received much praise and positive reviews - so I'm eager to read that one.
 
Bought Stephen W. Sears "Gettysburg" softback tonight at Barnes & Noble for only $17. Seems like
a great price ! Looking forward to this. :wavespin:
 
I think there should be an additional catagory in any of these "vote for lists"- None of the above. I just finished the Novel "Cain at Gettysburg", by Ralph Peters. That would be my current choice. a great mixture of fact and fiction. He describes places, events and personallities with great detail and brings them to life.
 
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