Comments on: An Atlas Whose Time Has Passed?

By: WD

WD — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:59:17 +0000

I must say though that having had a classroom with laptops, there’s nothing like having something great planned that you worked on for days, and having the server crash or a myriad of other technology issues that are beyond your or your student’s control. In those cases, it always pays to have a hardcopy available.
On another note, a GOOD atlas contains much more than the standard. I do love those that include data that most folks don’t think of when they think “map”.

By: msimons

msimons — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:11:54 +0000

Wilson's Creek like most battles West of the Mississippi get little notice unless you live West of the Mississippi or your a hardcore CW history lover.

By: msimons

msimons — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:07:44 +0000

Thanks Kevin and thanks for the links to the internet based civil war map sites. I learned the importance of maps and geographical features in Miltary Science Class in College and when I did teach History, I used maps weekly in my lessons. Cleburnes great tactial retreat at Riggold Gap in a fine example of using the land to your advantage.

By: msimons

msimons — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:11:54 +0000

Wilson's Creek like most battles West of the Mississippi get little notice unless you live West of the Mississippi or your a hardcore CW history lover.

By: msimons

msimons — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:07:44 +0000

By: scott s.

scott s. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:01:08 +0000

I think there is almost no point today to publish geo data, including cartographic data, without GIS or at least kml digital formats available. And supplying links to processed data that must be used on a web-based only map server isn't much better.

By: Kevin Levin

Kevin Levin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:06:01 +0000

I didn't even notice that they skipped Wilson's Creek. At first I thought it was just another one of those cheesy videos, but after I watched it a few times I started to see its value. The one thing that stands out is how little the balance of territory changes at certain points during the war.

By: Bob_Pollock

Bob_Pollock — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:02:53 +0000

You may already know this but, the Civil War in Four Minutes video is from the Lincoln Museum in Springfield. I didn't know it was on YouTube, so thanks, Kevin. I think I will post it on FB so my family out west can watch it. I think it is quite a powerful four minute snapshot of the war. When I first saw it though, I was very surprised that the Battle of Wilson's Creek was skipped. In fact, I watched it again just to make sure I hadn't missed it. How could they do that? Second major battle of the war, first major battle west of the Mississippi. Almost 2000 casualties, more than 500 dead, and the first Union General to be killed in combat.

By: Kevin Levin

Kevin Levin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:09:11 +0000

If you are looking for an attractive traditional military atlas than I definitely recommend it.

By: msimons

msimons — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:08:04 +0000

Kevin would this be a good one to add to my library? I don't have a civil war atlas in my collection at this time.

By: Kevin Levin

Kevin Levin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:11:25 +0000

I completely agree. I also do the same type of exercise in my classes for the very reasons you expressed. See you in a few weeks.

By: Aaron Sheehan-Dean

Aaron Sheehan-Dean — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:03:15 +0000

Kevin,
Thanks for the generous comments about the Concise Atlas. I agree that in many respects digital maps are superior to print maps but like printed books I don't think printed atlases will disappear (or at least I hope they don't). I project a variety of maps in my classes and I hope students learn from them in ways they don't from my descriptions or from reading about battles or campaigns. But I also do an exercise where I ask students to fill in a blank map of the US with state boundaries, rivers, mountains, etc. It's not for a grade but it's a very good exercise for stimulating a little cartographic thinking in students. Trying to draw a map by hand engages them with space in the same way that writing forces them to think about narrative and time. Hard copy atlases allow a more sustained analysis (and, of course, without the need for a power supply). Not every student takes advantage of that, but I encourage those who can't put Tennessee underneath Kentucky or who “forget” Arkansas altogether, that some time spent with an atlas would be profitable. I think we'll have both formats around for a while, though I agree that we have enough traditional battle atlases.