The Lost Dispatch: A Story of Antietam (review)

232civil war history a major-general of United States volunteers, a famous lawyer and astute politician , his life was a drama of the times on a grand scale. This reviewer believes the author has commendably presented his picture. Arthur Lerner Los Angeles, California. The Lost Dispatch: A Story of Antietam. By Donald J. Sobol. (New York: Franklin Watts. 1958. Pp. 173. $2.95.) it has often been pointed out that one of the main interests in the Civd War is concerned widi a series of "human incidents" involving die young and die old. The War between die States provides varieties of endless imaginative material so tiiat perceptive writers can readily build dieir plots. This book is a case in point. On September 13, 1862, a dispatch was found in a meadow outside of Frederick, Maryland. Its finding is believed to have changed die course of the Civd War. Although authorities generally agree on how the dispatch was discovered, no one seems to know how it first disappeared. The Lost Dispatch is based on diis enigma and wherever fact is confirmable the author adheres to it in his plot. And while die book is still fiction and not history, Mr. Sobol has gone to great lengths in obtaining data to reinforce his story. This is a dynamic and colorful tale of tire Civd War and of a young lad's role in the Union victory. Written in a simple style, it easily can whet the literary appetite of juvenile readers for more Civd War material. As a work of fiction it also satisfies die interests of die adult. Added to all tin's is a possible explanation of the never-solved mystery of a lost note at Antietam. Arthur Lerner Los Angeles, California. Books Received Buck, Irving A. Cleburne and his Command. Edited witii an introduction ("Pat Cleburne: Stonewall Jackson of the West") by Thomas Robson Hay. (Jackson, Tennessee: McCowat-Mercer Press. 1958. Pp. 378. $6.00.) Craven, Avery O. Civil War in the Making, 1815-1860. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 1959. Pp. xiv, 115. $3.00.) Hoehling, ?. A. Last Train from Atlanta. (New York: Thomas Yoseloff. 1958. $6.95.) Key, William. The Battle of Atlanta and the Georgia Campaign. (New York: Twayne Publishers. 1958. Pp. 92. $3.00.) Schenck, Martin. Up Came Hill: The Story of the Light Division and Its Leaders. (Harrisburg: The Stackpole Company. 1958. Pp. vi, 344. $5.75.) Van Doren, Mark. The Last Days of Lincoln. (New York: HdI and Wang. 1958. Pp. x, 152. $3.75.) ...