 For People With An Active Interest in the Civil War Today |
|
Use these links to navigate on CWN's web site Home/
Calendar/
News/ News
Archive/Opinion/ Book
Reviews/Living History
|
|
|
Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
|
|
City Under Siege: Richmond in the Civil War
by Mike Wright.
Index, selected bibliography, footnotes, softcover 356 pp., 2002 reprint. Cooper Square Press, 200 Park Avenue South, Suite 1109, New York, NY 10003, $17.95 plus shipping.
Richmond, as capitol of the Confederacy, experienced everything the war had to offer, and then some. All the problems of the Confederacy were encapsulated, and magnified, into the experience of Richmond and her residents during the war. Surrounded by federal troops, with an exploding population and limited supplies, Richmond did her best to survive, while at the same time serving as the heart and soul of the Confederacy. Mike Wright does a good job of digging through first-person accounts to bring to life Richmond during wartime. Anyone who has read much on the war will recognize many of the people Wright quotes, such a Phoebe Yates Pember, Mary Boykin Chesnut, Sallie A. Brock Putnam, and John Beauchamp Jones. Wright is at his best however, when he quotes from less well-known sources, including the minutes of the Richmond City Council meetings, and his snippets from the Richmond newspapers. It is then that we feel we are getting a fresh perspective on the subject. Although the book itself focuses on Richmond, the author does venture outside of the city to provide background information on battles and campaigns in the West and in other areas of the war. Think of this book as a wheel with spokes — Richmond as the hub, but with other topics of interest venturing out from the center. This may be a bit distracting to the reader with a solid background on the war itself, but serves as great background to a newcomer to the topic. Although I enjoyed this book, I didn’t feel I’d learned anything new. However, it is a book that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to someone just starting to read about life during the Civil War, as it serves as a good introduction.
Karel Lee Biggs
Karel Lee Biggs has been active in Civil War Round Tables in California, Indiana and Ohio and is an active proponent of historical preservation. She has written numerous articles on a variety of topics and is pursuing a second career as an elementary scho
|
|
| Use these links to navigate on CWN's web site Home / Calendar / News
/ Opinion / Civil
War on the Internet |
|