Book Launch Two Important Forthcoming Books From Savas Beatie

[Belfoured]

The SB website now shows two new entries targeted for Fall 2025 that I fully intend to get.

The first is Opening Manassas by Lance J. Herdegen and Bill Backus. According to the website it's a unique "fog of war" approach to the Battle of Brawner's Farm on August 28, 1862 from the perspective of the commanders on each side. The two authors are well qualified to analyze this important action that began the actual Battle of Second Bull Run and the decisions that were made.

Opening Manassas: The Iron Brigade, Stonewall Jackson, and the Battle on Brawner’s Farm, August 28, 1862

A leader in military and general history book publishing.

www.savasbeatie.com

The second book is Confederate General D. H. Hill: A Military Biography by Chris J. Hartley. As we know, Hill was an important and highly controversial Confederate officer (and brother-in-law of Stonewall Jackson). Until now the definitive work remains Hal Bridges' 1961 book Lee's Maverick General which, however, is limited to Hill's Civil War career. This promises to be the first full Hill study.

Confederate General D. H. Hill: A Military Life

A leader in military and general history book publishing.

www.savasbeatie.com

 

[JerryD]

Cool! Brawner's Farm is one of my fav small battles, and I have always wanted to know more about D.H. Hill. He strikes me as a very underutilized officer in the CSA. Yes, he was known to be difficult. But then, he was not the only prima donna in the ANV. I always wondered if he got exiled by Lee over the Lost Order.

 

[SWS]

Will see about picking-up D.H. Hill this summer.

 

[Belfoured]

Looks like the ETA is this Fall

 

[Nathan Stuart]

The title on 'D. H. Hill' looks interesting. Always found him to be not only controversial, but also a bit of an enigma as a Confederate general. He promised so much in field leadership but often was his own worst enemy to foil such promise.

Apparently this h/c work is 608 pages in length which indicates (to me) there is an extensive and adequate coverage of his military career. Would also like to see a list of contents (showing chapter headings) to make any informed buying decision on this book.

 

[Jamieva]

Those both sound interesting

 

[RaggedAssSecond]

I'm looking forward to Opening Manassas.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I'm very interested in the D. H. Hill book. He's one of the more curious characters of the war and I was reluctant to try to understand him better from a 1960s biography.

 

[Belfoured]

Cool! Brawner's Farm is one of my fav small battles, and I have always wanted to know more about D.H. Hill. He strikes me as a very underutilized officer in the CSA. Yes, he was known to be difficult. But then, he was not the only prima donna in the ANV. I always wondered if he got exiled by Lee over the Lost Order.

I think that Brawner's is a great subject for this kind of study. It's at a smaller scale and given the hectic maneuvering all over the landscape in the preceding few days there was a lot of "fog" for the respective commanders.

 

[Militarybooks]

Hi All, Thanks for posting this, Belfoured. Both titles are very original, serious undertakings, and both will have excerpts for you too see what they look like, what they contain, and how they read. Make sure you have an account with us and sign up for the newsletter to get the latest, fastest, including SIGNED copy offers when they ship.

www.savasbeatie.com

 

[Militarybooks]

The title on 'D. H. Hill' looks interesting. Always found him to be not only controversial, but also a bit of an enigma as a Confederate general. He promised so much in field leadership but often was his own worst enemy to foil such promise.

Apparently this h/c work is 608 pages in length which indicates (to me) there is an extensive and adequate coverage of his military career. Would also like to see a list of contents (showing chapter headings) to make any informed buying decision on this book.

The current TOC does not provide specific particulars on coverage (reproduced below), but it will. It is a FULL military biography by an outstanding student of history and writer.

Table of Contents
​

Epigraph
Maps
Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: What is History Worth?
Chapter 1: Iron Men
Chapter 2: I, Cadet Daniel H. Hill
Chapter 3: The Bravest Man in the Army
Chapter 4: As a Teacher I Have Never Known His Superior
Chapter 5: There is a Change at Davidson Since Hill's Arrival
Chapter 6: North Carolina Must Do Something
Chapter 7: The Idol of the Carolinas
Chapter 8: Work, Work, Plenty of Work Before Me
Chapter 9: A Retreat is a Sad Business at Best
Chapter 10: You Have Taken the Bull by the Horns
Chapter 11: It Was Not War—It Was Murder
Chapter 12: I Fear General Hill is Not Equal to his Position
Chapter 13: Savage is He Not
Chapter 14: There Were Giants
Chapter 15: Old Rawhide
Chapter 16: The Country Cannot Do Without His Services
Chapter 17: Balaam's ***
Chapter 18: Oh! This Man Hill!
Chapter 19: The Cat's Paw to Rake at Chestnuts
Chapter 20: Undiminished Confidence
Chapter 21: I Expect to Make Fight
Chapter 22: I Want to Be a Confederate to the Last
Acknowledgements

 

[RyanQ1864]

I'm helping Chris Hartley with edits to the manuscript of the DH Hill book. It's very good and will no doubt become the standard DH Hill book for many years to come. The amount of research included is outstanding and the bibliography a sight to behold.

 

[Militarybooks]

I'm helping Chris Hartley with edits to the manuscript of the DH Hill book. It's very good and will no doubt become the standard DH Hill book for many years to come. The amount of research included is outstanding and the bibliography a sight to behold.

Thanks Ryan. We are excited about this one.

 

[JohnnyReb421745]

I have both of the above titles currently in my Wishlist just awaiting the word of their release. Both look very good and I am especially interested in the DH Hill book.
SB has quite a few bangers on the list that are to be released in the coming months, including Dave Powell's V2 of the Atlanta Campaign.
I cannot help but feel like all of these great forthcoming titles, is like a rising crescendo with the grand finale being Frank O'Reilly's Malvern Hill book next year.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

It is a FULL military biography

Thanks for dsplaying the complete listing of chapters (which I generally find is useful information).

Too often (for my liking), 'Tables of Contents' shown in other military biographies appear to dedicate a disproportionate number of chapters (and sometimes also content amount) to peripheral context (covering the featured individual's prewar life and/or postwar activities) relative to those chapters allocated to the experiences of the studied person during the CW period.

Pleasingly, from the presented list of contents viewed here, this is not a consideration for concern. The vast number of chapters shown look to relate to Hill's CW experiences.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Too often (for my liking), 'Tables of Contents' shown in other military biographies appear to dedicate a disproportionate number of chapters (and sometimes also content amount) to peripheral context (covering the featured individual's prewar life and/or postwar activities) relative to those chapters allocated to the experiences of the studied person during the CW period.

I'm of the opposite opinion: that too many military biographies dedicate too little time to their life outside those four years of war. The prewar years may well have shaped the officer into the wartime leader they were (or weren't). The postwar years may reveal how the war impacted the rest of their life. Though often this seems largely a problem of sources: the officer wrote frequent letters home or kept a diary, but only during the war.

I suppose for a "military biography" rather than a "biography of a military officer" the emphasis would make more sense.

I do wish the latter would not shortchange the military aspect. The recent biographies of Chamberlain and Longstreet brought admirable detail to both men's lives before and especially after the war, but seemed to fumble parts of their military service. Of course, "military biographies" sometimes make baffling omissions as well, like Korda's biography of Lee.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

that too many military biographies dedicate too little time to their life outside those four years of war.

Thought that's a fair point, in its clear implications made. Definitely agree that learning about the subject person's early history, including their childhood, can definitely help one better understand that subject person's later history, say in the CW period. (The justification can be found in the old 'nature v nurture' debate, as the factors for determining human behavior).

But it's always a matter of 'striking the right balance' in chapter allocations, between covering 'context settings' and 'studied/interesr periods' in military biographies - resolution of this balance depends on what the target market primarily wants.

 

[Belfoured]

Thanks for dsplaying the complete listing of chapters (which I generally find is useful information).

Too often (for my liking), 'Tables of Contents' shown in other military biographies appear to dedicate a disproportionate number of chapters (and sometimes also content amount) to peripheral context (covering the featured individual's prewar life and/or postwar activities) relative to those chapters allocated to the experiences of the studied person during the CW period.

Pleasingly, from the presented list of contents viewed here, this is not a consideration for concern. The vast number of chapters shown look to relate to Hill's CW experiences.

Knowing that Ryan is involved further enhances the credibility of this book.

 

[Belfoured]

I'm of the opposite opinion: that too many military biographies dedicate too little time to their life outside those four years of war. The prewar years may well have shaped the officer into the wartime leader they were (or weren't). The postwar years may reveal how the war impacted the rest of their life. Though often this seems largely a problem of sources: the officer wrote frequent letters home or kept a diary, but only during the war.

I suppose for a "military biography" rather than a "biography of a military officer" the emphasis would make more sense.

I do wish the latter would not shortchange the military aspect. The recent biographies of Chamberlain and Longstreet brought admirable detail to both men's lives before and especially after the war, but seemed to fumble parts of their military service. Of course, "military biographies" sometimes make baffling omissions as well, like Korda's biography of Lee.

One problem that often crops up is that for many of these guys there isn't much primary source material that predates USMA/Mexican War, and even those events may not have much.

 

[Belfoured]

Good news: According to the publisher, the Opening Manassas book is at the printer and targeted for September release.