Civil War Book Reviews
Originally published May-June 2025 · pp. 66–73
CIVIL WAR
Book Reviews Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: BookReviews@CivilWarNews.com.
Demonstrates the Benefits of Comparative History The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism. By Niels Eichhorn & Duncan A. Campbell. Notes, index, 344 pp., 2024. Louisiana State University Press, lsupress.org. $55.
Reviewed by Jonathan A. Noyalas In 2013 historian David Prior brought together five historians to discuss the benefits and challenges of studying America’s defining moment from a global perspective. The discussion originated in an online forum and was later published in the March 2015 issue of The Journal of the Civil War Era, included Andre Fleche who noted that
exploring the Civil War through a global lens reveals how “global events shaped the war and… helped shape the modern world.” While juxtaposing the Civil War against all that occurred around the world in the same period is indeed a worthwhile endeavor, the challenge is that to understand the conflict in a global sense one needs, as another of Prior’s panelists, historian Sarah Cornell noted, to understand “the basics of other regions’ histories.” Presenting the Civil War in a global context in a digestible way is a Herculean task. Historians Niels Eichhorn and Duncan Campbell accepted and met that challenge with this thoughtful volume. Eichhorn and Campbell, well-known in academic circles for their global approach to Civil War era history, aim to reveal how what the United States experienced between 1861-1865 was part of “the general experiences of nationstate formation” during the nineteenth century. Throughout this deftly crafted study, the authors reveal that the moments that defined the Civil War era, secession, emancipation, and reconstruction, are not unique when examined through the broader lens of nation-state formation during the 1800s. This study further challenges conventional perspectives that the Civil War helped propel “liberalism across the globe.” While the authors rightfully admit that the Civil War’s destruction of slavery and extension of suffrage to black males “initially… advanced the liberal state in America” the authors convincingly argue that the United States could hardly be viewed as a bastion of liberalism when one considers the retreat from those gains following redemption in the former Confederacy. Additionally, this volume challenges the claim that the Civil War was the first modern war, something other historians have argued in recent decades. The authors convincingly assert that when compared to other “major mid-nineteenth-century conflicts” the Civil War shares the distinction, along with the Crimean War and Franco-German War, of introducing “new technology into the military sphere, thus pointing to future developments of industrialized warfare.” Eichhorn’s and Campbell provide important perspectives about how global events influenced and helped leaders justify decisions during the conflict. Particularly noteworthy is the authors’ discussion of President Abraham Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. When viewed from the perspective of “realpolitik” that “political system that places the need of a country ahead of any questions of morality,” Lincoln’s decision, one for which he was heavily criticized, falls in line with what other leaders, including Otto von Bismarck, ordered to deal with a constitutional crisis. Although this wonderful study places the Civil War era in a global context the authors freely admit that much work remains, particularly in the study of Reconstruction. While Eichhorn and Campbell reveal how organizations that formed in the former Confederacy after the Civil War to suppress all that Union victory achieved, most notably the Ku Klux Klan, influenced the establishment of similar organizations around the globe, they ponder what influence, if any, other groups formed in the South, had globally. For example, the authors contemplate if Giuseppe Garibaldi’s establishment of the Red Shirts was in any way informed by Wade Hampton’s Red Shirts.
This is an important book that all serious students of the Civil War era should read. Placing the Civil War era in a broader global context brings clarity to comprehending why people made the decisions they did and how what occurred in the United States during the Civil War influenced groups around the world. In short, this remarkable study written by two pioneering historians, reminds us of the significance of context and perspective when studying the past. Jonathan A. Noyalas is director of Shenandoah U niversity ’ s M c C ormick C ivil W ar I nstitute in Winchester, Virginia, a professor in Civil War Era Studies at Shenandoah University, and founding editor of Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era. He is the author or editor of sixteen books including most recently “The Blood-Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah,” published by Savas Beatie.
A Well-written Introduction A Fine Opportunity Lost: James Longstreet’s East Tennessee Campaign, November 1863 – April 1864. By Ed Lowe (Colonel, USA, Ret.) Savas Beatie, savasbeatie. com, 2023. 167 pages, 75 images, ten maps. Paper $16.95. Reviewed by John D. Fowler James Longstreet’s career as a Confederate officer has been controversial going back to his decision to embrace the realities of defeat and reconstruction by advocating a conciliatory policy with the victorious North and even joining the Republican party. His acceptance of the “enemy,” coupled with his negative remarks about Robert E. Lee’s generalship, generated animosity if not outright hatred among many Lost Cause writers during the postbellum period, especially former Confederate
General Jubal Early. For these men and many historians of the conflict, Longstreet became a scapegoat for Confederate defeat. He was especially castigated and ridiculed for his performance at the Battle of Gettysburg. By the late twentieth century, however, several historians sought to rehabilitate Longstreet’s image and salvage his military reputation. Jeffery D. Wert’s James Longstreet: The Confederacy’s Most Controversial Soldier (1994) is a prime example. Because of works such as this, Longstreet’s true personality and military ability emerged. Longstreet was a competent commander, albeit one who lacked the audacity of peers such as Lee and Jonathan Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet’s caution, however, did not mean he was solely defensive-minded or that he feared mass assaults, as he demonstrated with his men at the Battle of Chickamauga. On the contrary, it demonstrated a desire to strike hard only when the probability of success was high. He often chafed under Lee, desiring his own command, and in the Knoxville Campaign, he finally got that opportunity. Ed Lowe’s book A Fine Opportunity Lost is an examination of that opportunity. Lowe covers the East Tennessee Campaign from November 1863 to April 1864 when Longstreet returned with his men to Virginia to rejoin Lee’s army. The bulk of the book covers November and December 1863, when the major maneuvers and fighting occurred during the Rebel attempt to capture Knoxville. The Longstreet who emerges from Lowe’s account falls into the modern interpretation. He desired to accomplish much in East Tennessee, but, lacking resources and aggression, he failed. He came close to mauling Burnside’s small force at Campbell’s Station, but never seriously threatened Knoxville. Thus, in the end, he managed to do no more than worry and harass the Federals until he was eventually forced to return to Virginia. Perhaps the combination of circumstances and caution doomed his campaign from the beginning. As with the majority of titles in the Emerging Civil War Series by Savas Beatie, this slim volume is designed principally as an introduction to a battle or campaign. It offers readers a well-written yet not overly detailed summary of the campaign, explores and places the event in proper historical context, and then presents the readers with extras in the form of appendices. In most volumes, these
appendices offer vignettes of people or places, battlefield tour information, orders of battle, information on postwar commemorative monuments, etc. This standardized organization of the series ensures that both those unfamiliar with the historical events and even well-read students of the war will find the books and appendices interesting and informative. Lowe organizes the story of the campaign in eleven short chapters with an epilogue. Along with the text, the chapters are replete with pictures and maps that immediately engage the reader. Also included is an appendix, “Civil War Knoxville and the Loss of Fort Sanders,” by Jim Doncaster, which gives information on the Knoxville historical sites related to the major battle of the campaign. In essence, this works as a self-guided tour. Another short vignette in the appendices by Cecily Nelson Zander, “James Longstreet and the Army of Tennessee’s High Command,” presents a brief overview of Longstreet’s involvement in the longsimmering discontent among General Braxton Bragg’s general officers. Another appendix contains a few pages on “Longstreet and Confederate Strategy,” written by the author. Finally, Lowe includes an order of battle for the campaign and a well thought out suggested reading section. Two books mentioned, Earl Hess’s The Knoxville Campaign: Burnside and Longstreet in East Tennessee and Digby Gordon Seymour’s Divided Loyalties: Fort Sanders and the Civil War in East Tennessee, are widely considered the standard works for those who want a more detailed account of the East Tennessee Campaign and the fight for Fort Sanders. In sum, Lowe, a retired colonel in the US army and current professor of history and government, has produced a well-written, engaging account of James Longstreet’s attempt at independent command in East Tennessee. It is an excellent introduction to the subject for those who wish to explore the often overlooked campaign. John D. Fowler, Ph.D., is the author of several books
and articles on the Civil War Era. He is the author of
Breaking the Heartland: The Civil War in Georgia. He is currently a Professor of History at Dalton State College.
Impressive New Study The Fabric of Civil War Society: Uniforms, Badges and Flags 1859–1939. By Shae Smith Cox. Photographs, notes, bibliography, index, 303 pp. 2024. Louisiana State University Press. lsupress.org. Hardbound, $48.00. Reviewed by Jeffry D Wert In recent years memory of historical events has drawn increasing attention to and publications from historians. These scholarly works have examined how the remembrance of the past has contributed to the understanding and to the shaping of it. This new book offers a different perspective on how memory has impacted Civil War history.
The study explores three main areas as defined by its author, Dr. Shae Smith Cox. Initially, Dr. Cox describes who made and who paid for the uniforms of Union and Confederate soldiers. Secondly, she argues that the uniforms “physically and metaphorically” transformed their wearers and influenced those who saw them. Finally, the material objects, the badges and flags, serve as “a lens” which changed them from “practical tools of warfare to symbols of sentimentality.” (p. 2) Chapters 1-4 are devoted to the logistics and sentiments of uniforms, badges, and flags. The author details the gargantuan efforts of the Union and Confederate governments to clothe hundreds of thousands of soldiers during the war years. Each side confronted supply problems of an unprecedented magnitude, but Confederate officials not surprisingly had to overcome greater obstacles. Both Northern and Southern women aided critically in filling the demands. In the author’s judgment, “identity and control were central to Civil War uniforms,” allowing both governments “to exercise dominion and authority,” particularly over black and indigenous troops. (p. 86) Undoubtedly, uniforms gave black and indigenous soldiers a real symbol of manhood and, in their views, an equality with their white comrades. But all members of the armies were required to wear uniforms as it had been in armies from centuries past. The author maintains, however, that the uniforms possessed meanings beyond just distinctive clothing. The final chapter devoted to the war years discusses the importance of badges and flags to the soldiery. Union officers and enlisted men took great pride in their corps badges, evidenced particularly by how many of these badges adorned the covers of postwar regimental histories. According to a member of the Army of the Potomac, the rank and file were “devotedly attached to its badges.” (p. 100) Flags of regiments, Union and Confederate, invoked deeper attachment with the men. The author chronicles the early war creation of flags, notably by private groups
composed primarily of women, and the presentation ceremonies of the banners. As students of the conflict well know, the men’s attachment to their flag resulted from the colors’ importance amid the fury of Civil War combat. The book’s central theme about how uniforms, badges, and flags contributed to shaping the memory of the fouryear conflict is addressed in the final four chapters and a brief conclusion. The study covers the years from 1865 to 1939 as associations or organizations created the memory that extends into the twenty-first century. In the postwar North, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the Women’s Relief Corps (WRC), while in the South, the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) and the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) were the instruments of that creation. The author describes these organizations as “memory machines.” The ranks of the WRC and UDC, comprised of women, were critical in the crafting of this memory. Dr. Cox fully describes these decades with divergent interpretations and controversies about how the terrible conflict should be seen and, perhaps more importantly, remembered. The postwar years also brought efforts at reunion between the former enemies, but she asserts that reunions allowed for “amnesia” about the war’s central cause of slavery and emancipation. (p. 213) Unfortunately, the author has a bias against the Lost Cause interpretation of secession and the war, which she describes as “the southern fairytale.” To be sure, the tenets of the Lost Cause has been mostly dismissed by modern scholarship, but it may have been helpful if she explained why the South seemed to need an interpretation of those years after it lost perhaps one-third of its adult white male population and witnessed the destruction of its social fabric and economic base. She concludes that in today’s America, purchasers of Confederate uniforms, badges, and flags, symbols of treason and hate in her view, face “ethical quagmires.” (p. 229) The book is well-researched and well-written. Despite certain aspects of its central theme, it provides detailed information about a seldom addressed subject.
portrayed him and how they interpreted one of the most beloved and complicated figures in American history. However, very little has been said about the actresses who played the women in Lincoln’s life until now. Historians Wetta and Novelli, who have written in the past about Hollywood’s take on history, have examined how the ladies in the president’s life have been brought to life on screen. They wisely arrange their book by themes with the first one looking at Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the president’s birth mother and Sarah Bush Johnson, his adored stepmother. Lincoln himself, viewed the former as an angel and the few depictions of her in film and television reflect this view, though in reality, not much is known about her. Johnson is generally portrayed (correctly) as a loving woman who sees the potential her stepson had and encouraged his learning. The life of Anne Rutledge, who Lincoln may or may not have been engaged to and/or loved is still something of a mystery which has allowed Hollywood script writers to have free reign over how they showcased her in movies and TV. The authors argue that the modern romantic view can be traced to Carl Sandburg’s popular six-volume biography of Lincoln, which has been a major influences on film and television productions about the president since the books were published between 1926 and 1939,most notably a sixpart mini-series adaptation in 1974. Though Rutledge is not a major part of any bio-pic of the president she is often depicted as the real love of his life and her untimely death is the reason behind his depression. Also a small chapter is devoted to Mary S. Owens who some claimed Lincoln proposed to after the death of Rutledge. (She said “no.”) Not surprisingly, Mary Todd Lincoln gets the most attention, with one-third of the book devoted to the controversial former First Lady. The authors argue that there are two Marys in both the public and academic mind. One is an overbearing, unpopular, meddling, jealous wife who wears Lincoln down and adds to his depression because he is in a loveless marriage. The good one, a refined
Jeffry D. Wert is the author of, The Heart of Hell: The Soldiers’ Struggle for Spotsylvania’s Bloody Angle.
Hollywood’s Myths Abraham Lincoln & Women in Film-One Hundred Years of Hollywood Mythmaking. By Wetta, Frank J. & Martin A. Novelli. Baton Rouge, La. Louisiana State University Press. 2024. 240 pages, notes, bibliography, filmography, index. ISBN 978-0-8071-6972-8 $45.00 Reviewed by Tom Elmore Abraham Lincoln has been depicted in more films and television shows than any other president in history. So many, that there are books and articles about the men who
Southern belle, highly educated woman who helps her own ambitions. Consequently, trying to decide who is the real Mary becomes a difficult task. From the 1930s to the 1960s the “bad” Mary graced he screens, then when the feminist movement began, the “good” Mary arrived at the theatres. Mary’s life in Hollywood is broken into three chapters; the first shows how she is depicted before Lincoln ran for president, the second with her life as the First Lady and the third her life as a widow. The authors praise three actresses for their “nuanced” portrayals, Sada Thompson in Sandburg’s Lincoln, Mary Tyler Moore in Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, and Sally Field’s Oscar winning performance in Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln. The book ends with a “Coda” which tries to tie Shirley Temple and Marilynn Monroe to the Lincoln mystique. While interesting, it does not feel that it belongs in the book. The book is very well researched, with snippets of scripts from the various films cited included, including some parts that did not make the final cut. It also includes a filmography of the movies cited in the book. For anyone interested in classic movies or the life of Abraham Lincoln, this is an excellent book to read. Tom Elmore has contributed articles about Hollywood
and the Civil War for the Emerging Civil War website https://emergingcivilwar.com. He is also the author of
numerous books and magazine articles about the Civil
War.
Hell No We Won’t Go! ’Tis not our War: Avoiding Military Service in the Civil War North. By Paul Taylor. Acknowledgments, introduction, notes, bibliography, index, 456 pp, 2024, Stackpole Books, www.Stackpole Books.com, hardback, $34.95. Reviewed by Joseph A. Derie ’Tis not our War: Avoiding Military Service in the Civil War North tells the story of those persons in the North who did not want to join the Union Army or Navy and fight in the Civil War, and the individuals and communities that supported them. As part of his thesis, the author points out that “the American Civil War … was hardly the widely popular moral crusade portrayed within much of our collective historical memory.” Statistics indicate that at least 60% of draft age males in the North did not serve. Obviously, some of those who did not serve had conspicuous reasons, such as physical or mental disabilities; others did not wish to serve for reasons of pacifism, conscience, or disagreement with the politics of the party in power. There were also some who for personal failings (cowardice, selfishness, etc.), just did not want to serve. The few who served versus the many who were available to serve and didn’t, is partly the basis for Shelby
Foote’s comment that the North fought the Civil War with “one arm tied behind its back.” The book has an excellent final chapter entitled Conclusion: “What’s Past is Prologue.” In it the author discusses avoiding going to war during the Civil War and points out that this is not an anomaly, that there has been a failure to want to go war by individuals in all U.S. wars. Besides Vietnam, there have been other unpopular wars where a noticeable portion of the population, for example the “Tories” who remained loyal to the crown during the War for Independence, joined the British forces. Even in popular wars, such as WWI and WWII, there were persons who did not want to go and found reasons or excuses to avoid service. ’Tis not our War: Avoiding Military Service in the Civil War North is well written, well researched and interesting. It will be of especial interest to those with an interest in conscription, Civil War politics, the home front and family life during the Civil War. It is highly recommended. CAPT Joe Derie is a longtime Civil War buff with a
special interest in Civil War naval history and the Civil
War in the West. He is a retired USCG officer and a licensed officer of the Merchant Marine, currently self-employed as a marine surveyor and marine accident investigator in Portland, OR.
Jargon-filled Account of Federal Occupation of Louisiana Garden of Ruins: Occupied Louisiana in the Civil War. By J. Matthew Ward. Maps, photographs, endnotes, index, bibliography. 322 pp., 2024. Louisiana University Press, www.lsupress.com, hardcover, $50.00. Reviewed by Gould Hagler
New Orleans fell to the Federals early in the Civil War. From April 1862 to the war’s conclusion Louisiana’s metropolis and a significant portion of the state were occupied by United States troops and administered by military authorities. Battles with Confederate forces continued, of course, as the Federals attempted to expand their reach, sometimes with success, other times not. J. Matthew Ward’s Garden of Ruins, however, is not about the battles: it is a political and social history. For more than three years the Union military, first under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler and then under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks, was responsible for governing a large region and its people. The generals and their subordinates oversaw the operation of schools, hospitals, prisons, civil courts, and even bakeries. They took censuses and made sure municipal records were kept and that levees were maintained. They imposed a pass system to keep track of who was going where. They regulated trade and provided relief for the poor. Though the population under this regime was largely pro-Confederate, there were also many Unionists. There were large numbers of slaves, plus a smaller number of free blacks. The tensions and difficulties are easy to visualize. Ward does a credible job in describing the challenges the administrators faced and explaining how they addressed them. He assesses how the steps the authorities took affected the different segments of the population and judges the level of their success. The status of the slave population was ambiguous and fluid. The Emancipation Proclamation, taking effect on Jan. 1, 1863, did not apply to slaves in areas then controlled by Federal authorities. Hence, the Proclamation had no legal impact on occupied Louisiana. However, slaves owned by supporters of the Confederacy could be taken as “contraband of war.” Slaves also could self-emancipate with reasonable odds they would not be returned. But who were supporters of the Confederacy? Many signed loyalty oaths, some as an expression of genuine sentiment, some as
a pragmatic step to survive under Federal occupation. As for the Unionists, they were pro-Union but not anti-slavery. Would their Unionist ideals fade if their property rights were threatened? The situation was murky. The solutions were ad hoc and inconsistent. As Wards puts it, “the army and high command dismantled slavery in pieces.” Those favoring the Confederate cause lacked the means to resist, but they weren’t happy about their situation. Many had family members in the Confederate army, and many surreptitiously aided the Southern cause. How were the occupiers to know who was who, and how to punish those who were not loyal despite their oaths? Again, the situation was murky, and the solutions ad hoc and inconsistent. The discussion of the occupiers’ treatment of freedmen is the strongest part of the book. At the end of the day, with the Thirteenth Amendment, the institution of slavery was abolished. The murkiness was cleared up; all the slaves were free. In the meantime, the policies were unevenly applied, sometimes contradictory and often unjust. Numerous liberated slaves worked for the Federal army as laborers, but often their service was coerced. After some fits and starts, the Federal army actively recruited liberated slaves. Sometimes, Ward states, the men were forced to don their uniforms. The women were left behind, of course, and their lot was seldom a happy one. “Routinely isolated from male kin, Black women and children labored in contraband camps and plantations in conditions that largely resembled slavery,” Ward writes. Ward also includes a discussion of sexual assault. These outrages “did occur at the hands of Civil War troops, especially on Black women.” Not all the boys in blue were protectors. Moreover, it was difficult for the victims to obtain justice. In addition to the chapters on the Federal occupation, the first chapter describes the secession movement and the early months of war in Louisiana. The final chapter focuses on the Confederate-held part of the state where, under Gen. E. Kirby Smith, a Confederate army dealt with problems similar to those facing Butler and Banks. Like the chapters on the Federal occupation, these bookend chapters are very well done. In his introduction Ward writes that “The analytical structure of this book builds upon numerous volumes of gender history, social history, community studies, and micro-history.” He also writes that his work “relies on the conceptual framework of ‘household war,’” a phrase he credits to two other historians. Sometimes Ward strains to fit his account into his preferred analytical framework. The word “household” appears frequently (ten times on page 16, for example). As I read through the book, I mentally substituted “homes,” “families,” civilians” or “people” for Ward’s “household.” The substitutions did not affect the meaning in any way that I could discern. I am not sure we have a more insightful way of interpreting events, just some new jargon. Similarly, “gender” and “gendered” also appear with great frequency. In one case we learn that Union-controlled Louisiana was “a gendered occupation zone” in which white and black women were the majority of inhabitants. In other,
plainer words, the white men were in the Confederate army and the black men were either in blue uniforms or working as laborers for the Federal army. The word “patriarchy” is used regularly, often in conjunction with “white” and “male.” This verbiage adds little, if anything, to the reader’s understanding of events. In one case the reader could get the impression that Butler’s aim was to put an end to white male patriarchy rather than to defeat a rebellion. In addition to including this unnecessary jargon, the book evidently has bowdlerized some primary sources by substituting an offensive term with “n_____” in quotes taken from the sources. I counted seven. As there are no brackets to indicate a substitution, the reader is being told that the originals, letters written in the 1860s, contain this modern circumvention. That is surely not the case. The jargon and the artificial analytical framework detract from the work and add almost nothing. Nevertheless, I learned some new things by carefully reading Garden of Ruins. There is far more to Civil War studies than the clash of armies in battle. This book sheds light on an aspect of the war that deserves our attention. Gould Hagler is a retired lobbyist living in Dunwoody, Ga. He has been a regular contributor to CWN since 2016. He can be reached at gould.hagler@gmail.com.
Strike for the North Star Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois. By Larry A. McClellan. Illustrated, bibliography, notes, appendices, Southern Illinois University Press, siupress.com, 2023, 283 pp., softcover, $27.95. Reviewed by Wayne Wolf Larry McClellan’s research for this book was thorough, expansive, and humanistic. He paints the Underground Railroad movement from its foundation and early operation through a complex and human series of personal stories wherein runaway slaves (freedom seekers) helped to shape the actions of the Underground Railroad in a light previously given little attention. This challenges the previous notion that the Underground Railroad was overwhelmingly a secretive white venture. Rather freedom seekers assisted both themselves and their fellow runaways in navigating the irregular routes to freedom, gaining support from different people, white and black, in their quest to elude slave catchers and maintain their freedom. Chicago became the focus of the quest for freedom in Northeast Illinois. Approximately 10% of all freedom seekers (3,500-4,500) who used the Underground Railroad came through Chicago. By the 1830s, Chicago was recognized as both a destination and a haven where an active white and black population would assist, support, and protect runaways.
In a plethora of biographical sketches, the author highlights the activism of Chicago’s abolition leaders. Men and women like Calvin DeWolf, James H. Collins, L.C. Paine, Lewis Isbell, Isaac Arnold, Philo Carpenter, Charles V. Dyer, John and Mary Jones, Barney Ford, and Susan Wagoner, along with countless others, have their personal contributions highlighted. These stories illustrated how white and black leaders aided freedom seekers, provided financial assistance, transportation, and at times used illegal methods and mob action to thwart federal and state authorities trying to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and the Black Laws of Illinois. Likewise, churches, principally Congregational and Baptist, the Liberty Party, and newspapers like the Western Citizen, lent their voices and influence to an ever-growing abolition movement. These entities assisted in promoting individual stories of escape, how freedom seekers had made their way North, the lives each had created for themselves in freedom, and how each contributed to their communities. While the Underground Railroad was not needed by the end of the Civil War, the part it played in helping to destroy slavery was highlighted in this text. As an additional highlight of this book, the author produces a travel guide to visit many of the homes, churches, and locations that were integral to the abolition movement. The individual stories of freedom seekers lend a personal, human touch to this book. It is well-written, comprehensive, and historically accurate. For those who desire to gain a better understanding of the role played by the Underground Railroad, and principally the black community in its success, this text is highly recommended. Dr. Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College, past president of the Lincoln-Davis Civil War Roundtable, and the author of numerous books and articles on the Civil War, including The Last Confederate Scout, Two Years Before the Paddlewheel, and Gen. John C. Smith and the Fighting 96th Illinois.
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Photographs from the Original Article
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