Summer reading, 2014

I'm taking a trip down memory lane this weekend; I reread Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson's Topographer,
the diary of Stonewall Jackson's very gifted topographer Jed Hotchkiss, who made significant contributions to Jackson;s successful Valley & Chancellorsville campaigns. ANd, his biography, (a very beautiful book for you map lovers), Mapping for Stonewall: The Civil War Service of Jed Hotchkiss...in which the author theorizes had Hotchkiss not been absent on a map-making assignment, Jackson would have made a much better showing during Lee's Peninsular Campaign,

Now I'm rereading Thomas Lawrence Connelly's two volume history Army of the Heartland: The Army of Tennessee, 1861-1862 and Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865. Of personal interest to me as I had relatives in the 22d Alabama, 24th and 37th MIssissippi (who survived the fray thank goodness!).

Reread Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns (Great Campaigns of the Civil War)

Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign (Civil War America) by William L. Shea

Read (and very much enjoyed) The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee and I'm looking forward to reading the new Sherman biography, Fierce Patriot soon. I'm just home from a two-week road trip during which I visited some 18 National Military Parks, and I'm feeling re-energized by the trip and the interesting books being published this summer.

Campaign for Wilson's Creek: The Fight for Missouri Begins (Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series) ...the best volume in this series, real money's worth! (great maps but no order of battle)

You have some excellent reads on here. I have several on my TBR list and will add the others. Interested in how the Campaign for Wilson's Creek is.

#6, thanks. Here's a link to mu Trans-Mississippi collection:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Ammianus&tag=Trans-Mississippi

Campaign was a great little book and an excellent starting place if you want to learn more about the fighting in MO/Ark.

That series is very helpful for folks looking at short introductions to various facets of the war.

Cheers
A

To the North Anna River by Gordon Rhea and Not War But Murder by Ernest B. Furgurson. I hope to do a quick tour of both of these areas on the way back from vacation in mid-August.

Another rereading: Shiloh

So I'm reembarking on Gordon Rhea's masterful Overland Campaign quartet:
The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864
The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864
To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864
Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864

As a prelude, I'm reading And Keep Moving on: The Virginia Campaign, May-June 1864 (Great Campaigns of the Civil War).

Because I live nearby I've been fortunate enough to visit these battlefields (even little New Market). You can still get a chill walking those woods. I highly recommend all these books. Cheers, A!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_Campaign

Reread Campbell Brown's Civil War: With Ewell and the Army of Northern Virginia; Richard Ewell's stepson & staff officer's memoir.
Great insight into the Army of Northern Virgina's upper echelons. Recommended.

Was just at Petersburg yesterday. Wanted to stop at Cold Harbor but the family was grumpy so I had to skip it. I need to go there by myself!

#13, no appreciation for the finer things in life!

Rereading: Richard Taylor: Soldier Prince of Dixie, a fascinating character!

Just finished Mobile, 1865 Last Stand of the Confederacy by Sean Michael O'Brien