Here is the latest in recent acquisitions. On Thursday I head to Louisville, Kentucky for the annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association. No doubt, I will end up lugging a bag of books home with me.
Thomas A. Desjardin, Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign (Oxford University Press, 1995 – 25th anniversary edition)
Wayne Wei-Siang Hsieh, West Pointers in the Civil War: The Old Army in War and Peace (University of North Carolina Press, 2009)
Robert M. Poole, On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery (Walker & Company, 2009)
Thomas Sugrue, Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North (Random House, 2009)
Joan Waugh, U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth (University of North Carolina Press, 2009)
One of the best things about conferences is the book room! The OAH and especially the AHA are like Christmas to me.
One of the best things about conferences is the book room! The OAH and especially the AHA are like Christmas to me.
I found Waugh's book to be insightful, but the chapter on Grant during the Civil War didn't capture my attention as a student of military history. Still, it was the second half of the book that prompted me to visit Grant's Tomb on Sunday.
I've heard that from others as well. The first section is really meant to set up the second half of the book on Grant and memory. I don't think Waugh set out to write a military history. I learned quite a bit from reading the book.
I looked at the Arlington book the other day. Anxious to hear what you think. I have the West Point and Grant books and will be getting to them shortly, I hope.
There isn’t much to report on it. I am finishing up an essay on public history at Arlington and thought it might be a nice read. So far it is, but as you might suspect it’s a narrative history. The author is a pretty good writer.
I wish I could go there, but my personal and medical situation won't allow it. Enjoy!