Editor’s Question: Do you own the two-volume Civil War Books discussed below? Steve bought his from Dr. Bell Wiley when at Emo-
Indispensability is measured by distance of an item from one’s des In my case, the indispensable Nevins, Robertson and Wiley, eds., Ci War Books: A Critical Bibliography is no more than an arm’s length fr my favorite writing table.
This work, released in two volumes in 1967 and 1969, proposed
to address a need perceived by the three editors: “an annotated, crit
bibliography of the major works in the field.” A century after the war there were an estimated 40,000-60,000 books about it. At the time, Allan Nevins, James Robertson and Bell Wiley were officers of the United States Civil War Commission —
Chairman, Executive Director, and Chairman of the Executive Com-
mittee, respectively. The three wo the Commission’s endorsement of a project to compile a reference gui
serve as managing editor, with Wil and Nevins advising. How to organize such a daunting project? The three editors too their cue from James G. Randall and David Donald’s The Civil War and Reconstruction (1961). For the bibliography Randall and Donald employed 15 categories. Nevins, Robertson and Wiley decided to use the same ones.
tic ’ s C orner General Works — E. B. Long Biographies, Memoirs and Collected Military Aspects: Campaigns — Warr
Navies — Thomas Wells Diplomacy — Norman Ferris Prisons and Prisoners of War — Fra The Negro — Dudley T. Cornish Military Aspects: Mobilization, Or — Archer Jones
The Union: Economic and Social Stu The Union: State and Local Studies The Confederacy: Government and Po The Confederacy: Economic and Soci The Confederacy: State and Local S
With such a vast literature to choose from, how would the compilers make their selections? In March 1964 Dr. Wiley presided in Washington at a meeting of the compilers to discuss guidelines. They reached agreement on several fundamental points. They would deal only with books and pamphlets, avoiding articles, dissertations and theses. Th would include works considered both good and bad. “The overall aim of the project,”
as they explained, “was to analyze those volumes familiar and unfamil-
iar, general or limited, indispensab or useless for the benefit of anyone
In other words, this would be a true “critical bibliography.” Then they set to work. Now came the hard part: “finding competent historians who on the one hand were specialists in each of the
fifteen categories and who on the other hand were not already hard at
work on other endeavors.” To make matters worse, the Com-
mission could not offer payment to the compilers. They wouldn’t even get royalties, as the U.S. Printing
But surprisingly they found scholars for each of their fifteen categories shown in the accompanying sidebar. In less than a year, sections of proposed work began arriving at Dr. Robertson’s Centennial Commission office in Washington. It was his thankless task to edit each one for uniformity of style, and to check them all against duplication of entries.
John T. Hubbell iam E. Parrish — Martin Abbott ies — May S. Ringold — Thomas A. Belser Jr.
One of the charms of Civil War Books is the editors’ use of printed title cards from the Library of Congress. This means that every book’s publisher and date are invariably correct. For older titles, these det are golden. Example: William Allan’s Stonewall Jackson’s Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley was published by H. Rees, London in 1912. (Bet you didn’t know that!) The title car also provide the number of pages
and maps. One of Robertson’s jobs was to obtain Library cards if the
compiler missed them. By January 1966 half of the
proposed sections were in hand, featuring more than 2,700 annotated
titles. The three editors realized t already had enough material for a book; Volume II could come out later. Louisiana State University Press stepped in as publisher, and Volume
I appeared in 1967. Its companion came out two years later, with 2,400
entries. Dust covers for the two books were thoughtfully tinted in
butternut and blue. For each Dr. Robertson meticulously prepared a comprehensive in-
The compilers’ pithy assessments are in themselves tasty treats. One of my favorites is the “Campaigns” section, prepared by Warren Hassler, who at the time taught at Penn State Union Gen. Jacob Cox’s Battle of Franklin (1897) is “informed and well organized.” Fairfax Downey’s history of Brandy Station (1959) is “colorful and unflaggingly interesting.” James Montgomery’s work on Gettysburg (also 1959) is “an undocumented rehash.”
In addition to evaluating the lit ature, Civil War Books conveys the rich variety of titles in each genre Frank Byrne assessed more than 200 titles pertaining to prisons and POWs. Many of them are veterans’
reminiscences. After his capture at Gettysburg, Capt. Dulcimus et Ultimus Barziza of Co. C, 4th Texas, was confined at Johnson’s Island. His memoir, reprinted by the University
of Texas in 1964 from a rare origina edition, offers a “highly literate a count” of life at the famous prison. Rose Greenhow’s memoir of her
imprisonment, published in 1863, contains “much anti-Republican
vituperation.” But Byrne looked at secondary works, too. William
Hassler’s Civil War Prisons (1962) is judged the best. Byrne even mentions the June 1862 issue of Civil War History, “the best collection of modern scholarship”
on Andersonville and other prisons. Robert W. Johannsen’s section lis nearly 700 biographies and memoirs. Let’s just look at works about Stone wall Jackson. Lenoir Chambers’s biography (1959) is comprehensive and well-written. Burke Davis’s They Called Him Stonewall (1954) is “a
sympathetic portrait.” In writing hi Life (1863), John Esten Cooke was “an unconcealing admirer.” Allen Tate’s Stonewall Jackson (1928) is “sensitive and sympathetic.” Frank Vandiver gets profound praise for hi Mighty Stonewall (1957). “Written in a clear, polished and sometimes picturesque style,” Vandiver’s book is termed “an excellent, definitive study.” …which we know today is not quite so, as Robertson’s Stonewall Jackson (1999) is now the “excellent definitive study.” Since Civil War Books, other crit ical bibliographies have come out, including David Eicher’s The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography (1997). There are specialized studies, too, such as Garold L. Cole
Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and
listing from 1986 to 1996 (2000). There are The Union Bookshelf, by
Michael Mullins and Rowena Reed (1982) and Richard Barksdale Harwell’s In Tall Cotton: The 200 Most
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Important Confederate Books fo Reader, Researcher and Collect (1978). But when I want a reliable, formed evaluation of a book pr
ed before the Centennial (or a rate information on its public I always, always, turn to Nevi Robertson and Wiley’s monument work.
new book, A Long and Bloody Task: The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River May 5-July 18, 1864, has just been published as part of Savas Beatie’s Emerging Civil paperback series. The companion volume, carrying the Atlanta Campaign to the city’s surrender on September 1864, will be published later summer.
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