Recent Acquisitions to My Library

Edwin M. Stanton's leadership of the U.S. War Department was obviously successful, but beyond that I know little about the man, his background or his personality. I've found other works by William Marvel thought provoking in the arguments they offer, so I'm particularly looking forward to reading Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton.

A late summer vacation trip to eastern North Carolina, and sightseeing at several historical sites there, left me wanting to learn more about that region's Civil War experience. Executing Daniel Bright: Race, Loyalty and Guerrilla Violence in as Coastal Carolina Community, 1861-1865 by Barton A. Myers is the second book about the region that I've acquired since that trip.

Michael K. Shaffer was kind enough to come to Pamplin Historical Park a few weeks ago to speak about his new book, In Memory of Self and Comrades: Thomas Wallace Colley's Recollections of Civil War Service in the 1st Virginia Cavalry. Colley, a native of Washington County in southwestern Virginia was wounded several times during his service, his final causing the loss of his left foot. A wise man once wrote that the story of the Civil War is the story of its soldiers. One has to read their thoughts and feelings in order to understand the conflict.

I've been a fan of Jeffrey Wert's writing since I read Mosby's Rangers and A Brotherhood of Valor: the Common Soldiers of the Stonewall Brigade, C.S.A. and the Iron Brigade, U.S.A., years ago. So, I was happy to get an email from Da Capo Press offering me a copy of his new book, Civil War Barons:  The Tycoons, Entrepreneurs, Inventors, and Visionaries Who Forged Victory and Shaped a Nation for writing a book review for it on this forum. I'm presently reading it and have enjoyed it thoroughly. Be on the lookout for my full review soon.

For too long Northern free black communities in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois have occupied a marginal position as aids to fugitive slaves. White Quaker communities have largely occupied the historical spotlight in that role. However, with The Geography of Resistance: Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad, it appears that Cheryl Janifer LaRoche is working to correct that. Apparently, focusing on landscape features, LaRoche provides a new perspective on African American agency.