Book Launch New Hooker Biography

[Belfoured]

I just came across this, due out in November. Hooker is one of those subjects that has gone 75+ years without an update. Do we know anything about this one?

https://www.globepequot.com/9780811778107/joseph-hooker/

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

I just came across this, due out in November. Hooker is one of those subjects that has gone 75+ years without an update. Do we know anything about this one?

https://www.globepequot.com/9780811778107/joseph-hooker/

Not me, but looks interesting. Hooker needs a modern biography. Hopefully it is a balanced appraisal.

 

[MDcivilwarbuff]

I just came across this, due out in November. Hooker is one of those subjects that has gone 75+ years without an update. Do we know anything about this one?

https://www.globepequot.com/9780811778107/joseph-hooker/

No, I'd not seen this yet. The 1944 bio is still on my reading list, and I will likely be purchasing a copy soon. I will probably purchase this one as well once it "hits" Bookshare, the reading software I use.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Great that we're getting a new Hooker biography. Certainly a provocative title.

The author has written at least three previous Civil War books, although the Goodreads user ratings are poor for 2 of the 3.

 

[MDcivilwarbuff]

Great that we're getting a new Hooker biography. Certainly a provocative title.

The author has written at least three previous Civil War books, although the Goodreads user ratings are poor for 2 of the 3.

I just checked my Goodreads. The ratings for these books are skewed low due to the niche nature of Wipperman's works and academic writing style he utilizes.

 

[rpkennedy]

Great that we're getting a new Hooker biography. Certainly a provocative title.

The author has written at least three previous Civil War books, although the Goodreads user ratings are poor for 2 of the 3.

I had heard good things about his First for the Union but I haven't personally read it.

Ryan

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

https://www.globepequot.com/9781493092222/lincoln-in-new-england/

Thank you, @Belfoured for giving me this new book link! I just put "Lincoln In New England" on my Christmas wish list. Lincoln's tours in New England have been forgotten. My great-grandmother rode about 30 miles on horseback from Francestown, NH to Manchester, NH to see and hear Lincoln. And I haven't found anything about his tours here in New England or even in Manchester.

 

[milhistbuff1]

I will have to add Wipperman and Kent's respective works to my tbr! New Hooker bio and focus on L in New England is refreshing to see.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

The ratings for these books are skewed low due to the niche nature of Wipperman's works and academic writing style he utilizes.

I question why anyone would use an "academic style" when they're not being published by a university press.

 

[MDcivilwarbuff]

I question why anyone would use an "academic style" when they're not being published by a university press.

I'd never thought about that before. Wipperman is a trained historian, which may explain his "bent" towards a more academic writing style.

 

[JeffBrooks]

Not me, but looks interesting. Hooker needs a modern biography. Hopefully it is a balanced appraisal.

Agreed. He's one of those unfortunate historical figures defined entirely by their worst moment. When we think of Joseph Hooker, we think "Panicked at Chancellorsville and then smashed by Jackson's flank attack". We don't think of his service as a division commander throughout 1862 or as a corps commander in the Atlanta Campaign. People should be judged by the totality of their lives.

 

[LibertyAndUnion]

Agreed. He's one of those unfortunate historical figures defined entirely by their worst moment. When we think of Joseph Hooker, we think "Panicked at Chancellorsville and then smashed by Jackson's flank attack". We don't think of his service as a division commander throughout 1862 or as a corps commander in the Atlanta Campaign. People should be judged by the totality of their lives.

Thanks for noticing the book announcement. I hope everyone enjoys what I've done when it's released. I completed what I think will be seen as a "balanced" appraisal of Hooker's life. I also hope people learn some new things. My perspectives will be somewhat controversial in certain areas but I promise I haven't made anything up. Hooker's life was filled with controversy, after all.

Best to all,

Darin

 

[Belfoured]

Agreed. He's one of those unfortunate historical figures defined entirely by their worst moment. When we think of Joseph Hooker, we think "Panicked at Chancellorsville and then smashed by Jackson's flank attack". We don't think of his service as a division commander throughout 1862 or as a corps commander in the Atlanta Campaign. People should be judged by the totality of their lives.

I do believe some folks also think about his efforts to undermine Burnside, his arrogant statements about a "dictator" and God having "mercy" on Lee, and his hissy fit about Harpers Ferry/resignation in the midst of an invasion by the ANV. He was a very capable fighter but was his own worst enemy in some respects.

 

[Belfoured]

Thanks for noticing the book announcement. I hope everyone enjoys what I've done when it's released. I completed what I think will be seen as a "balanced" appraisal of Hooker's life. I also hope people learn some new things. My perspectives will be somewhat controversial in certain areas but I promise I haven't made anything up. Hooker's life was filled with controversy, after all.

Best to all,

Darin

Thanks for responding. It's puzzling to a lot of people why the "last word" on Hooker is now 80 years old. This looks like a promising end to the drought.

 

[MDcivilwarbuff]

Thanks for noticing the book announcement. I hope everyone enjoys what I've done when it's released. I completed what I think will be seen as a "balanced" appraisal of Hooker's life. I also hope people learn some new things. My perspectives will be somewhat controversial in certain areas but I promise I haven't made anything up. Hooker's life was filled with controversy, after all.

Best to all,

Darin

It's so nice to actually be able to correspond with the author. Besides the "camp followers" I can't off the top of my head think of anything Hooker did that was controversial, however, there's plenty of things that he said that were controversial. This should be an interesting read for me and will likely fill in the "blanks" in my own research into Hooker, of which there are likely many.

 

[Belfoured]

Great that we're getting a new Hooker biography. Certainly a provocative title.

The author has written at least three previous Civil War books, although the Goodreads user ratings are poor for 2 of the 3.

I tend not to rely much on Goodreads ratings, similar to Amazon ratings. No real qualifications required. A matter of personal opinion, obviously.

 

[LibertyAndUnion]

He was a very capable fighter but was his own worst enemy in some respects.

A very lucid sentence about Old Fighting Joe.

 

[Belfoured]

It's so nice to actually be able to correspond with the author. Besides the "camp followers" I can't off the top of my head think of anything Hooker did that was controversial, however, there's plenty of things that he said that were controversial. This should be an interesting read for me and will likely fill in the "blanks" in my own research into Hooker, of which there are likely many.

Based on all I've read I see Hooker as the goal scorer in hockey who nonetheless wears out his welcome in the locker room/team "chemistry" angle.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I hope @lelliott19 can schedule @LibertyAndUnion to give a Zoom talk about this book.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

I hope @lelliott19 can schedule @LibertyAndUnion to give a Zoom talk about this book.

This book comes out in mid-November 2026 so it will be a few months before we can schedule it.