
Quinn McPhail


Published: 9/7/16
HESS: Braxton Bragg (2016)
Braxton Bragg: The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy by Earl J. Hess. University of North Carolina Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1-4696-2875-2. $35.00. A great deal of ink has been spilled over...
Published: 8/31/16
BRETZGER: Observing Hancock at Gettysburg (2016)
Observing Hancock at Gettysburg: The General’s Leadership through Eyewitness Accounts by Paul E. Bretzger. McFarland, 2016. Paper, ISBN: 978-0786499786. $29.95. Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, commander of the Second Corps, Army...
Published: 8/24/16
SOKOLOSKY & SMITH: “To Prepare for Sherman’s Coming” (2015)
“To Prepare for Sherman’s Coming”: The Battle of Wise’s Forks, March 1865 by Wade Sokolosky and Mark A. Smith. Savas Beatie, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1611212662. $27.95. At the outset of...
Published: 8/17/16
GALLAGHER & JANNEY (eds.): Cold Harbor to the Crater (2015)
Cold Harbor to the Crater: The End of the Overland Campaign edited by Gary W. Gallagher and Caroline E. Janney. University of North Carolina Press, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1-4696-2533-1. $35.00. Civil War...
Published: 8/10/16
McCARDLE: A Just and Holy Cause? (2016)
A Just and Holy Cause? The Civil War Letters of Marcus Bethune and Martha Frances Ely edited by Linda S. McCardle. Mercer University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0881465693. $35.00. Marcus Bethune...
Published: 8/3/16
WOODWORTH & GREAR (eds.): The Tennessee Campaign of 1864 (2016)
The Tennessee Campaign of 1864 edited by Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear. Southern Illinois University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0-8093-3452-0. $34.50. John Bell Hood’s invasion of Tennessee in...
Published: 7/27/16
CONLIN: One Nation Divided by Slavery (2015)
One Nation Divided by Slavery: Remembering the American Revolution While Marching toward the Civil War by Michael F. Conlin. Kent State University Press, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1-60635-240-3. $39.95. Michael F. Conlin’s One...
Published: 7/20/16
EGAN: The Immortal Irishman (2016)
The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero by Timothy Egan. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0544272880. $28.00. Half-truths about an historical figure can lead to misconceptions about his or her deeds....
Published: 7/20/16
KURTZ: Excommunicated from the Union (2015)
Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America by William B. Kurtz. Fordham University Press, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-0823268863. $35.00. I recently participated in a conference...
Published: 7/13/16
BLUMENTHAL: A Self-Made Man (2016)
A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1849 by Sidney Blumenthal. Simon & Schuster, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1476777252. $35.00. In the first book of his multi-volume biography of...
Published: 7/6/16
HODES: Mourning Lincoln (2015)
Mourning Lincoln by Martha Hodes. Yale University Press, 2015. Cloth, IBSN: 978-0300195804. $30.00. A few months ago, I picked up my six-year-old daughter from first grade, and as we drove...
Published: 6/29/16
ROSS: Free State of Jones (2016)
Free State of Jones directed by Gary Ross. Runtime: 2 hours, 19 minutes. Release date: June 24, 2016. *SPOILER ALERT* Written and directed by Gary Ross, Free State of Jones chronicles how an...
Published: 6/29/16
SHULTZ & MINGUS: The Second Day at Gettysburg (2015)
The Second Day at Gettysburg: The Attack and Defense of Cemetery Ridge, July 2, 1863 by David L. Shultz and Scott L. Mingus, Sr. Savas Beatie, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1611210743. $32.95....
Published: 6/22/16
HOOPER: Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives (2016)
Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives: Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War—for Better and for Worse by Candice Shy Hooper. Kent State University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1-60635-278-6. $39.95. In this intricate comparative...
Published: 6/15/16
PHILLIPS: The Rivers Ran Backward (2016)
The Rivers Ran Backward: The Civil War and the Remaking of the American Middle Border by Christopher Phillips. Oxford University Press, 2016. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0195187236. $34.95. In The Rivers Ran Backward,...
Published: 6/8/16
PANHORST: The Memorial Art and Architecture of Vicksburg National Military Park (2015)
The Memorial Art and Architecture of Vicksburg National Military Park by Michael W. Panhorst. Kent State University Press, 2015. Paper, ISBN: 978-1-60635-219-9. $19.95. Historical memory is an ever-growing subfield. Coupled...
Published: 6/1/16
MEDFORD: Lincoln and Emancipation (2015)
Lincoln and Emancipation by Edna Greene Medford. Southern Illinois University Press, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0809333639. $24.95. “Who freed the slaves?” is becoming a tiresome debate, but it remains contentious. Like most...
Published: 5/25/16
HUBBARD (ed.): Lincoln, the Law, and Presidential Leadership (2015)
Lincoln, the Law, and Presidential Leadership edited by Charles M. Hubbard. Southern Illinois University Press, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0809334544. $34.50. Is there anything new to be written about Abraham Lincoln’s...