Three New Books.

[unionblue]

To All,

Just yesterday purchased three new books on the Civil War.

The first, Union In Peril; The Crisis Over British Intervention in the Civil War, by Howard Jones.

Cry Havoc! The Crooked Road To Civil War, 1861, by Nelson D. Lankford.

Fighting Words; An Illustrated History Of Newspaper Accounts Of The Civil War, by Andrew S. Coopersmith.

The first book is the one that holds my interest at present, as I have always been interested in just how close the country came to war with England over recognition of the South or just how close England came to recognizing the South as an independent nation.

The second is also of interest as I enjoy seeing how others perceive how the country came to war, what were the specific actions taken after Lincoln's election to bring about secession. The book's prologue begins with the aftermath of John Brown's attempt at Harper's Ferry in October of 1859, but picks up with Lincoln's inaugural address on March 4, 1861. The entire book devotes itself from that moment on until the firing on Fort Sumter and I am looking forward to a detailed report on the events that led up to that moment.

The third book is simply a continuation of a favorite topic of the period of mine, Civil War newspapers. I love reading the old editorials and letters to the newspapers from the time.

I already own several books on the topic, beginning with Northern Editorials On Secession, Volumes I & II, by Howard C. Perkins, Spectator of America, writen by Edward Dicey, an English correspondent of the time, Lincoln And The Press, by Robert S. Harper, Perilous Time; Free Speech In Wartime, From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism, by Geoffrey R. Stone, which contains a rather excellent section concering Lincoln and the Civil War, and Lincoln's Wrath; Fierce Mobs, Brilliant Scoundrels and a President's Mission to Destroy the Press, by Jeffrey Manber & Neil Dahlstrom.

I also own the book, From Rail-Splitter to Icon; Lincoln's image in Illustrated Periodicals, 1860-1865, by Gary L. Bunker, in which I enjoy seeing how Lincoln was portrayed as cartoon images from the newspapers of the time.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

 

[hurryuphill]

with your approval i shall look for these at the local library and see if we can share thoughts along the reading railroad.

PEST-- political, economic, socio,technological-- history is not for the faint of heart and can foster stong opinions. Must identify current historical influences, both academic and societal, and compare with previous interpretations.

 

[unionblue]

hurryuphill,

You have my gracious invitation, dear sir, to view these books, as my permission is not needed.

I hope that it will lead to some interesting discussions between us and I look forward to such.

Your Most Obn't Servant,
Unionblue

 

[hurryuphill]

been down with the flu and massive headaches. borrowed the books today and my earnest reading has begun. will post tomorrow initial thoughts.

 

[16thVA]

Unionblue, in case you may not know, the New York Times has put its archives online for free. You can search for battles, people, places, etc, within a certain date range. It comes up in PDF format. I wish they would do a database of war-time newspapers, north & south. So much information is lost in periodicals.

 

[unionblue]

16thVA,

Thank you for your post, but I already know about the Times being on-line.

I do agree I wish that more papers from the period were formatted and placed on-line in the same manner.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

 

[burnsrunner]

Classic Story

Another great New book is:

[FONT=&quot]Two Brothers: One North, One South[/FONT][FONT=&quot] is an American Civil War novel closely based on real people and events. It follows Clifton and William Prentiss from the tumultuous days of early 1861 in Baltimore until a few months after the end of the war. The motivations of each brother are examined as they chose sides and their wartime experiences are followed until a fateful day on the battlefield at Petersburg, one week before Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The author's intention is to demonstrate that the soldiers of the North and the South, and their friends and family on the home front, were all American patriots.

Personally, I really loved reading this novel by David H Jones. The author paints an amazingly accurate portrait of America's costliest and most commemorated wa[/FONT]r. The real characters and events portrayed are expertly brought to life in this novel and become quite unforgettable as the story unfolds.