No comments about The Fiery Trail: A Union Officer's Account of Sherman's Last Campaigns.

No comments about Confederate Struggle For Command: General James Longstreet and the First Corps in the West (Texas A&M University Military History Series).

1 comments about Mary Edwards Walker: Above and Beyond (American Heroes).

1. In this short biography of Mary Walker, Dale Walker gives glimpses into the history of medicine, the world of women's fashions, prisons of the Civil War, and the beginning of the campaign for women's vote. Mary Walker was born in 1832 in upstate New York to freethinking parents who insisted that the four girls work on the farm and wear clothing that allowed amble circulation of blood. Not only did she follow her father's suggestions for attire, she also followed him into the medical profession and became one of the first female doctors in the Unites States. Her father was self-taught; Mary graduated from Syracuse Medical College in 1849 and began the difficult task of finding patients who would pay to see a woman doctor. What the Civil War began, she volunteered as a physician and fought hard to be paid as a physician, not a nurse. She worked to stop battlefield amputations and to incorporate sanitary practices. Known as much for her brash, unrelenting behavior as her trousers, she became fodder for Civil War tabloids. Captured as a spy, Mary spent four months in Confederate prison where she schemed for prison reforms including better food and medical care. She was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1865, had it rescinded 1917 when Congress decided that too many medals had been awarded without merit, and reinstated in 1977. Her life spanned the Civil War and beyond. She saw women's roles changed from domestic work to physician. Just before she died in 1919, women were granted the right to vote.
   
   Mary Walker is a terrific role model for today's girls- feisty, responsible, hard-working and not at all concerned about the fashion police. Well worth reading.
   
   Reviewed by Beth Edelsten for Flamingnet Book Reviews
   www.flamingnet.com
   Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations

2 comments about John Hunt Morgan and His Raiders.

1. Details details.. I wish this book had more of them. I was a bit disappointed in getting this hardcover to see that I could read it in a couple of days. The pages go by fast as they cover Morgan's daring raids throughout Kentucky and the north. I was hoping to get more information than the quick coverage of the events that Morgan and his raiders went through. I would have liked to get some insight from his companions in the field and also from his enemy. This book seems to summarize Morgan and probably isn't the best when it comes to dates and details. It is important to suggest this book for anyone looking to read about a different Confederate cavalry commander instead of Mosby or Stuart that doesn't want to get into serious details. Perhaps this book exemplifies Morgan himself. It was short and fast. Morgan started his command quickly and finished quickly.



2. GREAT BOOK! HARD TO PUT DOWN! Covers the "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy" John Hunt Morgan from Tompkinsville, KY to Greeneville, TN. This little book has more in it than a 800 page novel. If you are interested in Morgan's Raids or Civil War activity in the Kentucky - Tennessee area, this is a MUST READ!

4 comments about Damage Them All You Can: Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

1. George Walsh hit a grand slam with DAMAGE THEM ALL YOU CAN: ROBERT E. LEE'S ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. Told almost exclusively from the point of view of the Confederate side this book does a wonderful job of getting into the hearts and minds of the men who fought for the Confederacy. The stereotypes of the lost cause or southerners as a pack of racists are replaced by a very human portrait of the men (and sometimes their loved ones too) who fought and died for what they believed in. Walsh has done a very real service to the memory of the Army of Northern Virginia. The battle narratives are really good as is the analysis of Lee's thoughts, decisions and occasional frustration with his subordinates. An excellent treatment!



2. Strolling through the Mall I decided to stop in for a brief visit to the mass market oriented bookstore. Thumbing through the Civil War offerings I picked up this outstanding book. I did not recognize the name of George Walsh. He is a Yankee writing on the army whose story has been so well told from Southern superstars such as Douglass Southall Freeman, Clfford
   Dowdey and Shelby Foote. Why plunk down a Visa card to purchase it?
   Curiosity satisfied is the answer! Walsh writes in a personal style introducing the men and the units making up Lee's fabled Army of Northern Virgnia. Even an old Civil War buff such as I learned new things about the Victorian warriors of Dixieland who lend the forces of Lee against the enemy.
   This book is an excellent survey of the war in the Eastern theatre. It is a valuable additon to my Civil War library. I highly recommend Walsh's book to anyone even casually interested in learning more about the American Illiad that is our Civil War!



3. "Damage Them All You Can:" Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia written by George Walsh is quite frankly one of the best accounts of The Army of Northern Virginia that I've ever read. General Robert E. Lee assembled the best army to ever, to this point in time, fight on American soil. In fact, The Army of Northern Virginia man for man, out Generaled, out fought all that the North could throw against it.

   Walsh's book is a true delight to read, the principles in the book seem to come alive as you read on in the book. The prose is written with vivid descriptions and the author gives the reader insights albeit shrewd of how the battles were fought.

   I got the inpression that I was there with the incisive insights the author gives the reader, from the Generals, to the commanders, right down to the trenches, told with deeply moving detail. I encourage anyone interested in reading about the Civil War or the "Yankee War of Aggression" to read this book.

   I've read Foote, McPherson, and Catton's writings about this time in American History, but Walsh's account here is the best and most personal one that I've ever read, with a probing into the character and the battles that made them feel like they were fought right before your eyes.

   This book is, by all accounts, for a single volume the best book written about one of the best fighting armies the Confederacy ever had... the Army of Northern Virginia. This book is worthy of a place in your library on American History.




4. I am the author of "Damage Them All You Can." Would you please run the subtitle of my book on your web page?
   The subtitle is: Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
   By running it you will provide the potential buyer with instant information as to what the book is about.
   Thank you.

1 comments about Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan (Bluejacket Books) (Blue Jacket Books).

1. I've just finished CONFEDERATE ADMIRAL and the more I reflect on it the more solid it seems. A great job of professional history and biography. Symonds sets Buchanan in his time, and does a great job of presenting a guy many of us wd not get along with in person, and whose ideas would not pass muster today, but presenting him without judgment in the context of his time and profession. I never felt the author liked him, but I never felt he disliked Buchanan either; it felt . . . objective. What a word, how seldom we see objective reporting today! Read this book to see what it means, and to follow a real roller-coaster of a career in a stormy century and time in America. Damn nice writing too. Thanks Mr Symonds!

1 comments about In the Footsteps of Stonewall Jackson (In the Footsteps Of...).

1. In The Footsteps Of Stonewall Jackson by Civil War Re-enactor and history buff Clint Johnson is a unique character study of the famous Civil War general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, one of the most pivotal military strategists and leaders in history. Following the trail of Jackson's life from the church where he was baptized to the museum that holds the stuffed hide of his war horse to the grave of the Confederate officer who ordered the volley that fatally wounded Jackson, In The Footsteps Of Stonewall Jackson is a singularly impressive tour de force as enjoyable for armchair travelers as it is for tourists who want to actively seek out more about this fascinating man's life and the role he played in America's bloodiest conflict.

3 comments about Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander.

1. Mr. Brown is not an historian, only a story teller/
   
   The historical quality of his book is dubious.
   
   His illustration of Frederick Fuger, First Sergeant of Cushing's Battery is in reality a picture of Fuger's son, Frederick W. Fuger, an infantry officer who served in the Spanish American War.
   
   Anyone with a passing knowledge of US Army history would recognize the insignia on the figure's helmet as that of an officer in the 13th Infantry, not the 4th Artillery with which Fuger served all his military career.
   
   Anyone can compile and copy reports. It takes a practiced hand to analyze and present history.
   
   James B. Ronan II



2. If you visit the Gettysburg battlefield, pause at The Angle and spend a moment beside the monument to Cushing and his men. You will be standing on the very spot described in Brown's gripping account of the battle. Cushing was a distant relative of mine, which makes this book special to me.



3. Before I read this book I had no idea who Lt. Alonzo Cushing was or what he did. This very enjoyable book provided a detailed insight into the life of Cushing as a cadet and through the Civil War until he met his death beside his cannons at Gettysburg. The author provides vivid descriptions of the life of a Union soldier during the war and the terrible battles that they fought. A very engrossing and enjoyable book. Recommended for anyone who likes a good read about mans courage during difficult times.

2 comments about Mississippi to Madrid: Memoir of a Black American in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

1. An excellent book, which pays attention to an episode in history, that should not be forgotten. In simple words James Yates makes clear the relationship between his struggle for civil rights in the US and his later contribution to the International Brigades in Spain. Also his courage to go on with his activities after the Worldwar, as his pictures show, is impressive...



2. This book is one of the greatest books I bought at the time when I was in the US. Pete Seeger wrote about the book: This is a great story, a great read, and has a great lesson to teach young Americans , black and white, of how you can be strongly rooted in your home community and at the same time see a sense of kindship with working people around this whole world. The battle to save the elected Loyalist government of Spain 50 years ago was the first battle in World War II. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade and others may have lost a battle but they didn't lose the war, nor have lost it yet. Carry on! I want to send all my respect to the members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, your international solidarity which you showed in the battle against the fascist Franco regime will never be forgotten, we will never forget you bright stars in the darkness.

5 comments about The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln.

1. Let me state the obvious. Each of us is a product of our time - of all the people and events we encounter, and the values of the societies we live in. So was Lincoln. So was Tripp. Current Gay and Queer identities are 20th cent constructs and could not have been embraced by Lincoln, nor does Tripp claim this to have been the case. Nor does Tripp present a view that all Gay people will see as politically acceptable - his work helped build the current identity but he was, himself, a product of another era. However, as Robert Aldrich and others have demonstrated, homosexuality is as ancient as humanity and exists in many forms across societies. Tripp gives a good portrait of a remarkable man coping with homosexual urges in an emerging nation. Tenuous though some of his arguments may be, his critics are, in many cases subject to the academic biases of reliance on surviving documentation (often ignoring context and the nature of covert behaviour), lack understanding of the experience of being in a hidden minority and even, in a few cases, rely on arguments that make Tripp's weakest sound strong. The truth is that here is meticulously well researched book that presents a convincing arguement but shows evidence of the author not having survived to do the last few re-writes that would have bought it up to his usual high standard.



2. The world of Lincoln scholarship can be highly contentious, but controversy about this book relates to Tripp's use of evidence, not the topic he examines. My own specialty is Lincoln's pre-presidential life. Determining what happened in those years can involve surmise and supposition. I don't fault Tripp for lacking unobtainable proof. Even outright speculation can freshen thought.
   
   I am concerned, however, by Tripp seizing a kernel of evidence, extrapolating from it, and pronouncing the resultant structure to be proof of his contention. For example, he finds a unique statement from Bill Greene noting that Lincoln had well-developed thighs. Tripp then turns to the Duncan and Nichols biography of Mentor Graham, a source I consider so unreliable that I have never dared cite it as authority for anything. Relying on an undependable source and a single comment from Greene, Tripp claims to prove a homosexual relationship between Greene and Lincoln.
   
   Tripp extrapolates further and argues that because Greene became embarrassed when Lincoln introduced him to Secretary of State Seward as Lincoln's grammar teacher, that meant Greene was uneasy about his old homosexual relationship with Lincoln. Tripp considers and rejects the possibility that Greene said little during the meeting because he didn't want to reveal his poor grasp of grammar to Seward, thereby belying Lincoln's praise and humiliating himself. I find the possibility that Tripp rejects to be more plausible than the one he embraces.
   
   Another type of reasoning is illustrated by Tripp arguing for a homosexual relationship between Lincoln and Joshua Speed because (in part) when Lincoln moved into their sleeping quarters, Speed failed to say anything about his admiration of a Lincoln speech. Tripp here assumes that because Speed failed to mention this in his account of his conversation with Lincoln, that absence means no conversation about the speech occurred. Lincoln and Speed may have talked about many things that Speed didn't mention (weather, crops, politics). Tripp seems to think that if an account doesn't say something happened, then it didn't happen. That's invalid reasoning.
   
   Regarding Lincoln and Speed being bed mates, neither man was secretive about the arrangement, and some men Lincoln slept with had definite heterosexual orientation. Public comment about a politician's sex life was rare in that era, but I have seen examples in Illinois newspapers. If anyone had thought the Lincoln-Speed sleeping arrangement could be portrayed as homosexual, I think political opponents would have raised the issue regardless of whether they believed it.
   
   We can speculate all day about Lincoln's place on the sexual continuum between heterosexual and homosexual, and speculate reasonably, but speculation isn't proof. Still, the topic is worthy. For me, the big disappointment in Tripp's book was in finding him wrong again and again about things I know about. If it had been the other way around I would probably have found the book exciting rather than frustrating.



3. Most art, literature and history is studied from the straight, white, male perspective. If a famous man professed his undying devotion to a woman and slept with her for years, SWM academic theory would presume the couple was sexually involved and use that as proof of heterosexuality. C.A. Tripp simply looks at the facts of Lincoln's intimate life from the position of a queer theory scholar. Interpreting findings from a queer point of view takes this book beyond the genre of biography and helps us understand how all historical theory about any minority has been skewed to fit a mainstream mold, disregarding history as it most probably was.



4. What is it that propels peopel to reinterpret history? This book is so chock full of speculative flim flam. It is written by a person who is applying 21st century culture to 19th century culture. It was not uncommon for men to share quarters 200 years ago and ...GUESS WHAT? Not be gay.
   
   The irrational claim this author makes is based on this one single premise:
   
   "OOOH two men shared a room...they MUST have had gay sex!"
   In the military I slept in very close quarters to other men, and NOT ONCE did I have any inclination of homosexual conduct. What is wrong with leftists? Why must everything be centered around sex? Is there anything else to life for them, than fleshly gratification? Good grief.
   Lincoln had a close friend and shared a bedroom with him. AND? Does that AUTOMATICALLY mean he was gay? Cmon people!
   Can you not see the obvious fallacy? It is a false conclusion. It is a desperate attempt by the left to twist history into something that suits them. Its taking a *REPUBLICAN* president and trying to make him into a liberal!
   
   Hows this for the left? Lincoln advocated PRAYER in school. Next thing you know, the left will be trying to twist that around.



5. ...because that's all this erroneous piece of trash is. I'm not homophobic. I am against people trying to cash in on the name of a legendary historic figure simply to cause controversy, and thereby gain some extra dollars.
   
   Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Cruise and others can sue the tabloids when they twist stories. Lincoln's dead. He can't.
   
   Just remember that.