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BOOK NOTES Regimental Publications ¿r Personal Narratives of the Civil War. Volume I: Northern States; Part I: Ilhnois. Compiled by C. E. Dornbusch. (NewYork: The New YorkPubUc Library, 1961. Pp. 46. $2.50. ) A year ago this journal announced with pleasure the forthcoming revision by Charles Dornbusch of the out-of-print and outdated Bibliography of State Participation in the Civil War (Washington, 1913). This is the first instaUment of Mr. Dornbusch's huge undertaking, and it is a bibliographical gem. Following the arrangement of the earlier edition, entries are classified numerically by artillery, cavaby, and infantry arms. Should a student or researcher wish a quick reference, for example, to extant writings on U. S. Grant's old 21st HUnois, he can turn readily to the pertinent section—where he will find seven works ranging from printed books to magazine articles. The present checklist will eventually contain eight parts: six parts encompassing the bibliography for seventeen Northern states, one part being an appendix with additional tides, and an index. Similar lists for the Confederate States will follow . Present plans caU for a printing, in volume form, of aU parts. This is the best new bibliography of Civil War material to appear to date; interested persons should start collecting the parts while they are sail available. Campaigns and Battles of the Sixteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteers . ByThomas A. Head. Introduction by Stanley F. Horn. (McMinnviUe , Term.: Womack Printing Co., 1961. Pp. 488. $5.00. ) Thomas Head could vividly chronicle the history of the 16th Tennessee because he was a major in the regiment and served with it until his capture at Kennesaw Mountain in 1864. OriginaUy published in 1885, the book has long been the most sought-after of Confederate regimental histories. Messrs. Womack and Horn deserve much credit for making this new edition available and at so economical a price. However, as Head's narrative is a potpourri of reminiscences, tables, musters, data on other Tennessee regiments—and, as the publisher states, often "caUed a history of the Western [Confederate] Army"—it would seem that the inclusion of an index would have been considered an absolute necessity to a work of.such scope. Surely the serious bufl would have been willing to pay the few cents extra for such a needed reference feature. On the other hand, the chapters on Corinth, Perryville, Murfreesboro , Chickamauga, Franklin, etc., are candidly pictured by a learned soldier. And the use, as dust jacket and end plates, of three of the famous Gaul prints, 466 even though reproduced only in one color, add flavor to this classic memoir of service in the neglected Army of Tennessee. The Peace Convention of 1861. By Jesse L. Keene. (Tuscaloosa, Ala.: Confederate Publishing Company, 1961. Pp. 141. $4.00.) If it is unusual when two books treating of the same subject appear on the market simultaneously, it is indeed a rarity when both reflect deep research, keen analyses, and a clear, rapid style. Such is the case of this study and that of Robert Gunderson which is reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Keene's survey of the eleventh-hour attempt by a conference of elderly statesmen to avoid war evolved from his doctoral dissertation. It is thus a methodical, blow-by-blow account of the Convention, its antecedents, and the events that followed. Keene has reUed on printed sources as heavily as Gunderson researched into manuscripts and newspapers. For pure writing style, Gunderson's volume is superior. At the same time, Keene presents his version concisely and crisply, with a minimum of descriptive adjectives and humorous tangents. In short, choosing between these two excellent studies is the same as deciding whether you Uke good ice cream plain or with topping. Travels in the Confederate States: A Bibliography. By E. Merton Coulter . (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961. Pp. 289. $10.00.) The most glaring need in the mass of Civü War Uterature is for a descriptive bibUography of said Uterature. Such a bibUography should list the good and the bad books in the field, and it should say why each work adds to or detracts from a better knowledge of the 1861-65 period. When and if such a guide...

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