Reading the War, December 1862

Reading the War December 1862

We do not have many books from Antietam to Gettysburg. I have no idea why but it is a fact we have to accept. Compounding the problem is that several books are out of date or just plain bad. My recommendations are:

The Fredericksburg Campaign by Francis Augustin O’Reilly is the newest, 2006, readily available and excellent.

Guide to the Battles of Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg edited by Jay Luvaas and Harold W. Nelson from 1996 is one of the excellent War College guidebooks.

Larry J. Daniel has the newest book on Stones River with Battle of Stones River: The Forgotten Conflict Between the Confederate Army of Tennessee and the Union Army of the Cumberland.

The book we all have on the battle is Peter Cozzens’ No Better Place to Die: The Battle of Stones River. Twenty plus years after publication this book is still on the shelves.

Winter Lightning: A Guide to the Battle of Stones River edited by Matt and Lee Spruill is another of the excellent War College guidebooks.

Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign by William L. Shea from The University of North Carolina Press published in 2009, is the most readable and complete account.

Posted

December 4, 2012

150 Years Ago in the Civil War, Civil War Books, James Durney’s Book Notes

James Durney

Tags:

battle of fredericksburg, battle of murfreesboro, battle of prairie grove, battle of stones river, december 13 1862, december 31 1862, december 7 1862, january 2 1863

Comments

3 responses to “Reading the War, December 1862”

Brian

December 4, 2012

I’m trying to decide between Cozzens or Daniel to read up on Stones River. Has anybody seen any reviews of the Daniel book aside from Amazon?

Reply
1. Brett Schulte
  
  December 4, 2012
  
  Brian,
  
  I haven’t. There are claims on Amazon (from an anonymous coward) that Daniel lifted maps directly from Cozzens without attribution, but I doubt that happened because it would be caught and pointed out immediately in today’s blog-heavy atmosphere. I don’t have Daniel’s book yet or I’d solve this little riddle once and for all. Another person has stated that Daniel DID use maps from Lanny K. Smith’s massive two-volume work on the battle WITH Smith’s permission, both volumes of which I do own. Without having read or even looked at Daniel’s book, and knowing he did a good job with Shiloh, I’d personally still recommend Cozzens. His western battles trilogy from the University of Illinois Press is excellent.
  
  Reply
Bummer

December 4, 2012

Brett,

Bummer scans your blog every day. He doesn’t have much to contribute, but enjoys the content. It’s a great way to start the morning.

Thanks,
Bummer

Reply

Reading the War, December 1862