​Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864
Chris Mackowski
Savas Beatie, 2016, 192 pp., $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-315-7
Image courtesy of amazon.com
 
The Battle of the Wilderness has been getting some serious attention recently, so I was happy to see that Chris Mackowski wrote a book from the Emerging Civil War Series about it.  Hell Itself encompasses May 5 -7 and does what most other books from this series has done.  They give an excellent overview of the battle with great information, along with readable maps and clear driving instructions around the battlefield.  This series has been invaluable and Hell Itself is no exception.  Mackowski brings the same academic outlook to the battle which he has done in his previous works and all other works in the Emerging Civil War series.
                Chris Mackowski is the editor-in-chief of Emerging Civil War along with being the writing profession in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Saint Bonaventure University.  He is a former historian with the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, which includes the Wilderness battlefield, and is the historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge.  He is the author and co-author of twelve Civil War books from both the Emerging Civil War series and others including: Seizing Destiny, and Chancellorsville’s Forgotten Front.  Also in Hell Itself are appendices written by other contributing authors of Emerging Civil War.
                Hell Itself works on two fronts, as all other Emerging Civil War books have done.  Not only is it informative, but it also offers a driving schedule for those who want to tour the battlefield.  The strength of this series is that tourists can take them along when they go to these places.  Each page is accompanied by either a picture of the battlefield or a picture from the war which gives readers a more visual idea of what happened here.  Also, the maps given throughout are excellently drawn and quite simple to understand.  This book is the perfect aide to anyone visiting the battlefield who have not been fore.  The narrative of the battle is the excellence which Mackowski brings to all of his works and I found the Quandary at Saunders Field most interesting.  It seemed that there, over all other places for me, the battle came alive.  There was so much going on, so much confusion being thrown around the field that it just jumped out of the page.  The appendices in the back were also quite informative covering such subjects as cavalry, analysis on Ambrose Burnside, and even the wounding of James Longstreet.  Overall, the book is quite informative and a great aide to the battle.
                I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in visiting the Wilderness Battlefield, and anyone interested in the Wilderness Campaign.  There are many who have told me that the Wilderness is quite confusing when you begin to analyze it.  I believe this is a great introductory book to that battle and moreover, a springboard for more people to learn about the campaign.  The driving instructions are once again, second to none, and Mackowski has done a masterful job of making the battle come alive.  Highly Recommended.        

​Fighting for General Lee: Confederate General Rufus Barringer and the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade
Sheridan R. Barringer
Savas Beatie, 2016, 304 pgs, $32.95
ISBN: 978—1-61121-262-4
Image courtesy of amazon.com
 
If there is one thing which I have loved while reviewing Civil War books, it is learning about people I had no idea about.  Fighting for General Lee is one of those books.  I had never heard of Rufus Barringer until I began to see the press for this release.  I was intrigued about the man and instead of running to research him myself, I waited to read this book.  What this book offers is what the Civil War world needs now: something different.   After reading this book, I am more informed and interested about not only Rufus Barringer, but those around him who affected his life.
                The author, Sheridan R. Barringer is a descendent of Rufus Barringer and this is his first book.  He graduated from Virginia Tech and was a mechanical engineer and project manager with NASA, with whom he worked forty years with.  His interests in the Civil War are mainly with the Cavalry, and physics and cosmology.  He has two other works coming soon, one on General Thomas Rosse and an edited memoir written by Rosser.  He is also working on a biography of Colonel Thomas. T. Munford.
                As I said in the introduction, I love reading books about people which I do not know about.  Some of the stories seem so incredible that I am surprised they have not been written about before.  This biography of Barringer has such moments.  When Rufus Barringer entered the world of politics, I was not surprised to see that North Carolina was heavily divided, but I was interested to know that his progressive political nature helped to create some interesting policies during his tenure while serving the state before the war.  As the narrative continues and we learn about his rise to cavalry officer, we hit some major points in the war and in his life.  This was a man touched with personal grief and sorrows.  While he had been wounded at the Battle of Brandy Station through the mouth, he would then have his wife, Rosalie taken from him.  The author takes us through the rest of his Civil War career, including his time as a prisoner, and even gives us a little about the fights in reconstruction which Barringer witnessed.  When he returned home, he found very little the same and the town was even part of a race riot.  The author gives the readers a clear idea of the troubles of this time period and the environment which most Confederate soldiers returned to after the war. 
                This biography is a treasure to the Civil War world.  I highly recommend this book not only to those interested in the Cavalry, but those who are looking for a person not written about in the past.  Sheridan R. Barringer has done the Civil War world a great favor by bringing this man to life in the pages.  His narrative gives grace and dignity to this man and does justice to his memory.  Any information anyone could have ever wanted about General Rufus Barringer can be found in these pages, and what is presented is excellent.  Highly Recommended. 

​Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24th – April 8th, 1865
Noah Andre Trudeau
Savas Beatie, 2016, 360 pgs., $32.95
ISBN: 978-1611216-26-3
Image courtesy of amazon.com
 
When the Civil War was coming to a close, there was much to do in the face of reconstruction especially in the eyes of Abraham Lincoln.  It seemed that no matter what, the pressure was on him to construct new policies which would lead to reconciliation.  While there are those who have studied the last days of Lincoln’s presidency, they all seem to come up short.  Now, with Lincoln’s Greatest Journey, that information is more delved into.  Noah Andre Trudeau takes us along with Lincoln through the last days of the war which are fairly important to the events which would come after.  Through this book, the drama and tragedy of the end comes full circle and we can see into the realm of not just Lincoln but the soldiers and commanders around him.
                Noah Andre Trudeau is a familiar name to many Civil War readers and historians.  He has written eight books, Lincoln’s Greatest Journey will be his ninth, and all have received critical acclaim.  His first book was Bloody Roads South which won him the Fletcher Pratt Award from the New York Civil War Round Table.  Other familiar titles are Like Men of War, Southern Storm, Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage, and The Last Citadel: Petersburg June 1864 – April 1865. 
                This book encompasses sixteen days in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, from March 24th to April 8th, 1865.  Trudeau pays incredible detail to each of these days, and while the study is from those dates, he does not leave the reader without some background.  The opening chapter spans the months from January to March in order for the readers to have a better understanding of what will come on March 24th of 1865.  Once he begins to delve into those dates, however, you begin to see why they are so important to Lincoln’s presidency.  But these events do not just talk about Lincoln, they give information of those involved on both sides.  When March 25th is written about, it opens with Lincoln on the River Queen, but also talks about what is happening in Petersburg.  He gives details of the Confederate movements and their plans in those final days.  One of the parts of the book which seemed to affect me as a reader was seeing the last days of the Petersburg siege through the eyes of Lincoln.  You read the correspondence between the president and his high ranking commanders.  Something about the narrative here gave me a different outlook on the way the final battles were happening.  I have read quite a few books on the Civil War and I have never read such a narrative of battles through the eyes of the president such like this.  By the end of the Civil War, there was no doubt that Lincoln was a tired man, but here, the feeling of his exhaustion is not only well written but felt as the narrative flows to the end of these days. 
                Another one of the highlights of this book for me was the battle narratives, especially on April 2nd.  Trudeau not only handles one battle with ease, but three.  The assaults on Fort Gregg, Fort Mahone, and the Sixth Corps assault were handled masterfully.  And on top of the battles being described well, we still get the outlook from Lincoln here.  This made the book more of a page turning experience.  As the days go on, we get some naval details as well which other authors have struggled with, but Trudeau handles beautifully.  When the book nears its close with April 8th, there is a feeling of tumultuous peace.  Everything seemed to be on in place for the war to end, yet the fighting was still heavy.  When Lincoln returns to Washington and meets Seward, it feels like the end, yet we know as readers that the end is not here.  Grant is headed to Appomattox and Sherman has even more work in the lower south.  And there is still the tragedy of the reconstruction.
                Words cannot describe how much I recommend this book.  It has been some time since I have been emotional reading a non-fiction work and yet as these days were described, I could not help but get emotional not only from the president, but from the soldiers who were fighting this waning war.  Lincoln’s Greatest Journey is a welcome addition to the Civil War world, but also, it is a welcome addition to those who want to study Lincoln himself.  Trudeau’s narrative is amazing; it evokes a different type of narrative in recent studies.  It touches you on a scale which, as I stated before, I cannot describe.        

​The Maps of the Wilderness: An Atlas of the Wilderness Campaign, Including all Cavalry Operations, May 2 – 6, 1864
Bradley M. Gottfried
Savas Beatie, 2016, 344 pgs., $39.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-285-7
Image courtesy of amazon.com
 
Bradley M. Gottfried has created some of the most significant maps in the past few years in the realm of Civil War academia.  If you are a Civil War student or reader, the odds of you coming across Bradley M. Gottfried’s maps are high.  There is a reason for the popularity of his maps and it has everything to do with the accuracy and detail of what he has placed down before us.  The Maps of the Wilderness is the new set which adds more to his amazing collection of narratives and charts.  This new book truly adds to the already invaluable series of atlases he has completed.  
                Bradley M. Gottfried is a notable Civil War scholar who holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from Miami University.  He is a faculty member and administrator and is the President of the College of Southern Maryland.  He has written ten books on the Civil War including The Battle of Gettysburg: A Guided Tour, Roads to Gettysburg, and Brigades at Gettysburg.  His other works in the Savas Beatie Military Atlas Series include The Maps of Gettysburg, The Maps of First Bull Run, The Maps of the Bristoe Station and Mine Run Campaign and The Maps of Antietam.  He is constantly adding more to the atlas series with more title to come.
                There are certain qualities which make up a good map set and Gottfried has done all in perfect order.  First and foremost, the maps are gorgeous.  There is never any confusion over who is where and what they are performing in the military realm.  They are drawn with the highest artistry with proper keys and scales.  The maps themselves are going to benefit any student or scholar with information concerning the Wilderness Campaign.  But what places Gottfried’s maps over the top when it comes to the professionalism of a military atlas is the explanations which he gives on the offset page.  Not only do we get proper maps of the battle, but we get a full narrative and Gottfried’s narrative is spectacular.  Each section of the battle is set up properly with the opening map and the series of charts follow giving the full understanding of what happened there.  On top of that, he also gives us the time frame of what is happening before us.  Many times in other works, the maps are just placed next to the narrative to assume we know what we are looking at.  Here, Gottfried takes great care into how he has constructed this book and I’m sure it will be appreciated by all who wonder in the Wilderness Campaign.
                When I first read The Maps of Gettysburg, I was impressed with the amount of detail which the author brought to the field.  With The Maps of the Wilderness, Gottfried continues his immersive narrative with the beautiful maps that he only continues to deliver some of the best work in Civil War topography.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War.  While it would aid more readers of the Wilderness Campaign, this atlas should be in the library of all Civil War readers and historians.