The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research (review)

BOOK REVIEWS335 never really addresses his stated thesis. While he provides examples of family mental illness, he does not demonstrate that Sherman ever worried about the phenomenon, nor does he demonstrate a causal relationship between Sherman's psyche and those of his mentally ill relatives. The book contains interesting information, fairly presented, but with little analysis. Too often, long block quotes are substitutes for the author's own words. Throughout, Hirshon leaves unsaid what his detailed knowledge of Sherman might have led him to say. The result is a book that misses many opportunities for insight. Still, it is a fair rendering, a workmanlike biography, of the life of a complicated man, and it continues the generally sympathetic tone of recent Sherman historiography. John F. Marszalek Mississippi State University The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research. Edited by Steven E. Woodworth. Foreword by James M. McPherson. (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996. Pp. xiv, 754. $99.50.) Popular interest in the Civil War shows no clear sign of abating. An astonishing number ofbooks and articles appear yearly to meet the public's seemingly insatiable appetite for the subject. The expansive market for Civil War scholarship is both a blessing and a curse; academic and nonacademic authors know theirbooks will sell and that people outside the academy will read them; but finding new topics and keeping up with the voluminous literature can be daunting. Nor does quantity equal quality; there are a number of mediocre studies produced each year that add little to ourbroader understanding ofthis complex historical event. TheAmerican Civil War speaks directly to this dilemma in the Civil War field. Steven E. Woodworth has assembled forty-nine authors to sort through the stacks of scholarship seeking quality, innovation, and gaps in the literature. Broken into eleven parts with forty-seven chapters and an appendix, the book covers every conceivable aspect of the conflict. Parts 1-3 focus specifically on primary and secondary materials as well as illustrative resources; part 4 discusses the war's causes; parts 5-9 explore widely diverse subjects such as strategy and tactics, the homefront, conduct of war, and leadership. Part 10 deals briefly with Reconstruction , and the final part includes three chapters on popular media and the Civil War. Woodworm's main goal is to offer practical guidance to readers by utilizing the expertise of librarians, museum curators, professors, and independent scholars.Authors assess textbooks, biographies, campaign narratives, memoirs , published papers, reference works, and manuscript repositories, as well as movies, television programs, and music.An appendix lists addresses and phone numbers of hundreds of publishers and book dealers throughout the country. The American Civil War works nicely for both academic and nonacademic audiences. Several chapters serve as "how-to" manuals for beginning researchers. 336CIVIL WAR HISTORY Alan C. Aimone's chapter on genealogical sources advises readers where to start their inquiries; Judith Lee Hallock warns of the distortions and biases characteristic of primary documents; Michael L. Renshawe notes that published papers are selective and not meant to be read from start to finish. Chapters on the war's causes, Lincoln, and Union civilian leaders stand on their own as well-written and insightful historiographical essays. Authors do not merely highlight gaps in the literature, but many are openly critical oftrends and weaknesses they perceive in the scholarship. Eric H. Walther dismisses the popular notion that race and slavery had nothing to do with Southern secession and war; Alan C. Guelzo chides historians for undervaluing the importance of political ideology and regional identity to Northerners; Mark E. Neely, Jr., predicts (and seems to applaud) the end of interest in Lincoln's private life and a return to studies of his public career and policy making; Mark Grimsley criticizes authors of campaign and battle narratives for their narrow focus and self-promotional tendency to "bring their pet battle to life" (282); Michael B. Chesson angrily blasts academicians for their neglect of prison studies , especially Northern prisons, by arguing that 'The scant attention paid to this subject in the past eighty years is an indictment ofthe historical profession, particularly those who profess to care about this greatest conflict" (475). Chesson wonders if we are not...