The Continuing War

THE CONTINUING WAR by James I. Robertson, Jr. at this writing, all indications point to a de-acceleration in the publication of new Civil War books. Poor sales on many works considered shoo-in best-sellers at the outset may account in great part for the growing hesitancy and caution pursued by publishers in scrutinizing Civil War manuscripts for consideration. This is indeed a healthy sign. To date it has been well-nigh impossible for even the most ardent Civil War book collector to keep pace with the steady stream of new books and pamphlets relative to the struggle of the 1860's. Now, with a little less quantity and a little more quality, publishers and the reading public may be able to pursue the Civil War with more dignity and solemnity. Such a course will not only enrich the Centennial as a whole; more important , it will come immeasurably closer in fulfilling the aims of this commemorative period. The largest undertaking in Civil War publications to date is that of G. K. Hall and Company of Boston, who is reprinting the Hospital Directories kept by the U.S. Sanitary Commission for the period 1862-1865. The original full work encompassed 136 volumes, averaging 325 pages each. The facsimile reprint will be 44 volumes of 1000 pages each. Because the total price of the set is $2,900, the reprint is being published in a limited edition and available by subscription only. Topic, a literal arts journal published by Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pa., devoted its Fall, 1961, issue to a series of Civil Warstudies. A total of six articles, ranging from a discussion on the economic basis of the war to a collection of soldier's letters, made up the 72-page booklet.Contributors included John A. Carpenter, Hans Trefousse and William R. Waters. . . . The Franklinville Store, Inc., of Franklinville, N.C., is selling at fifty cents per copy a group of essays by Walter Clark under the title: North Carolina Troops in the Great War, 1861-1865. Clark, a former Confederate and chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court, was the author of a widely consulted five-volume work on Tarheel units. This booklet contains his observations on Gettysburg and the Virginia battlefields. It is well worth the small investment. State centennial commissions continue to contribute admirable monologues treating of local issues and events. The Ohio Civil War Centen76 nial Commission has issued in pamphlet form Henry H. Simms's Ohio Politics on the Eve of Conflict, a 34-page essay on thepolitical turmoil in Ohio during the critical prewar period. From the Connecticut Civil War Centennial Commission comes Military and Naval Leaders in the Civil War, a compilation of 64 biographical sketches and illustrations of some of that state's most notable commanders. Col. E. P. Leedy and E. J. Lonergan compiled this valuable tract. ... As one of its first publishing ventures, the Wisconsin Civil War Centennial Commission has contracted Alan Nolan to edit a new edition of Rufus Dawes' revealing narrative, Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers. This work is one of the better personal narratives on the Northern side. No publication date has been set. Reprints dominate the field of paperbacks this spring. New titles in Fawcett's "Civil War Classics" paperback series include The Confederate Raider Alabama (a condensation of Raphael Semmes's Memoirs of Service Afloat); Joseph Mitchell's Decisive Battles of the Civil War and an abridged edition of Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. Philip Van Doren Stern is editor of the series. . . . The Civil War As They Knew It, edited by Pierce Frederich, relies heavily on Brady photographs and is a Bantam publication. . . . Meridian has also republished Bertram Kom's excellent American Jewry and the Civil War. . . . Harry Hansen has put together a large volume, The Civil War, which Mentor Books has issued in paperback form. Scheduled for spring release by Stackpole is a history of the 24th Michigan. The author, Donald L. Smith of Detroit, reports that this regimental study is written from the viewpoint of the soldiers in the ranks and contains at least five valuable and heretofore unpublished manuscripts by men in the 24th. . . . While...