North & South Magazine Returns

I recently learned that Keith Poulter has resurrected North & South. The magazine was in production from 1997 through 2013 and for a long time offered high quality articles from some of the top historians in the field. Unfortunately, the quality of the publication suffered greatly following the departure of Terry Johnston, who went on to start The Civil War Monitor magazine, which in my mind is the best Civil War magazine available.

It is unclear as to why Poulter has chosen to try to restart North & South, but potential subscribers and authors should be wary. First, there is no indication that Poulter has addressed the many problems that led to the magazine’s demise. I wrote about the publication’s problems back in 2013. In addition to the quality of the articles, I know of a number of authors who were never paid for their work. Historian Eric Wittenberg explained the magazine’s failure as a result of Poulter’s “incompetence and unwillingness to listen to anyone else.”

All of this is to say that I will not be investing my money in North & South.

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5 comments… add one
  • Mike Fitzpatrick Feb 22, 2021 @ 9:08

    Would you know if North and South magazine has been discontinued once again?

    • Kevin Levin Feb 22, 2021 @ 9:18

      I do not, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if it did shut down again without anyone notice.

      • Mike Fitzpatrick Feb 22, 2021 @ 9:20

        Thanks! It wouldn’t surprise me either!!
        Mike

  • John Foskett Jul 9, 2019 @ 10:01

    Fool me once … As somebody who had the unfulfilled remainder of his subscription honored due to the generosity of Terry Johnston at CWM, this news calls to mind the urban dictionary definition of “insanity”.

  • Rob Wick Jun 9, 2019 @ 7:45

    Wow, talk about an idea whose time hasn’t come. I know both Ed Steers and Kathryn Canavan, and both are superb historians. Ed wrote for N&S several times in the past, and I imagine he agreed to do so out of the fact that he is a decent human being and probably still holds some fondness for Poulter (my feeling…no evidence to back that up). Kathryn is working to get her name out there to a larger audience. Her book, “Lincoln’s Final Hours,” is an interesting collection of stories of those famous and not-so-famous figures surrounding Lincoln’s murder. I only hope they don’t regret doing this.

    Best
    Rob

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