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Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
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A Time of War: A Northern Chronicle of the Civil War
by Stuart Murray.
Illustrated, maps, notes, bibliography, softcover, index, 337 pp., 2001. Berkshire House Publishers, 480 Pleasant St., Suite 5, Lee, MA 01238, $18.95 plus shipping.
Berkshire County lies in the western extreme of the Commonwealth of Massachu-setts. The beauty of the mountains and the quaint towns and villages have attracted summer residents and tourists for well over a century and a half. Nineteenth-century luminaries such as Herman Melville and the senior Oliver Wendell Holmes resided there. It was—and still is—an area with a rich heritage, ripe for a history of its involvement in the Civil War. A Time of War: A Northern Chronicle of the Civil War focuses on the events in the Berkshire mountains between the Jubilee of 1844 and the conclusion of the Civil War. As the war divided the nation, the peaceful Berkshires was a place of paradoxes — simultaneously producing staunch abolitionists and two residents who served as Confederate generals. Robert Gould Shaw, who fell leading the famed 54th Massachusetts, had connections there, while the South Carolina fire-eater William Yancy and Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens were educated there. A Time of War is a well-written overview of the units that marched off to war from the Berkshires, a social history of the region, and a sketch of notable per-sonages of the period who had connections there. The narrative is presented in chronological order as Murray successfully maintains an even flow to his various an-ecdotes, weaving them in an entertaining style. This book is recommended as a good local history; however, there are several caveats. The “Notes” supply additional information rather than being true source notes. Although a range of primary sources was used, there are no citations. The text has some grammatical/typo errors, reflecting a need for more consistent editing. Finally, there is a rehash of old myths and glaring factual errors. For example, the battle of Chantilly was a distinct part of the Second Manassas Campaign, not fought “a few weeks after the Second Bull Run Campaign.” A Union success was achieved at Antietam, not because “McClellan had proved himself a worthy field general to everyone but Lincoln and the Republicans,” and, he was not relieved because “he was a threat to the Republicans.” The Gettysburg Address was not “composed on the train from Washington.” Murray’s bibliography reflects the use of very few recent studies of the Civil War period, hence the reliance on now disproved myths. Although A Time of War is marred by these flaws, it is written in a very readable style and provides a balanced perspective of regional life both on the military front and the home front. The author made use of many previously untapped sources which complement the narrative.
Michael RussertMichael RussertMichael Russert
Michael Russert, a member of the Capitol District Civil War Round Table of New York, received his B.S. in history at SUNY and his MALS in Civil War Studies from Empire State College, SUNY. He has written about New York's role in the war.
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