Books and Libraries in Camp and Battle: The Civil War Experience (review)

188CIVIL war history news and occasionally fell prey to misinformation and rumor. His letters surprisingly offer no reaction to large, decisive battles such as Chancellorsville , Gettysburg, and Vicksburg. He often rails at the ineptitude, defeatism, or in some cases, outright cowardice of the Union leadership from Lincoln on down to several junior officers of his regiment. Yet, Wightman cannot be considered a valid spokesman for the average Union recruit. He was, and obviously considered himself to be, a world apart from most of his comrades. Wightman's pronouncements concerning fellow privates fluctuate between disgust and idealization. In a letter of January 3, 1863, he writes: "The privates, ofcourse, are not such people as you or any sensible man would choose, or perhaps I should say could endure, as associates. As a mass, they are ignorant, envious, mercenary and disgustingly immoral and profane" (p. 97). Only a few weeks later, on January 27, 1863, he explains: "The politicians forget that our soldiers are all intelligent men equally capable with themselves of distinguishing between a brave leader and a sagacious strategist" (p. 106). Given Wightman's occasional inconsistency and almost patrician exclusivity, his insights are not always terribly convincing. Longacre's lengthy explanatory notes are most helpful, but situated at the end ofdie book and therefore not conveniently accessible. The photos and maps included are well placed through the book to enhance appreciation ofthe letters. Unfortunately, many ofthe maps and sketches prepared by Wightman of the Bermuda Hundred and Petersburg actions are deleted. Although interesting in many respects, Edward Wightman was not an important figure. His views, however strong and in some instances prophetic , could not significantly influence die course ofevents. Nor does he adequately reflect the common soldier's view from the trenches. Wightman 's letters should therefore appeal to a fairly limited audience and be considered only by research libraries with strong Civil War collections. James B. Casey Circleville, Ohio Books and Libraries in Camp and Battle: The Civil War Experience. By David Käser. (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984. Pp. xiii, 141. $27.95.) Unlikely as it may seem, the Civil War was, in many ways, a watershed in die history of reading, libraries, and publishing in America. The war provided a large population of men with plenty of time on their hands, and •many of diese men filled that time by reading. They read for information and instruction, as they always had, but they also demanded more books simply for entertainment, a demand they carried home with them after the war. Publishers quickly rose to the challenge of the demand and issued book reviews189 more "popular" literature than ever before. These returning soldiers also appreciated the free access to reading material and they were often found at the forefront ofthe public library movement in their communities. In this book, David Kaser carefully documents the reading habits of the soldiers on both sides in the Civil War, and studies the type ofmaterial they read and how they obtained it. In order to present this picture, Kaser has drawn heavily upon the published and unpublished letters, diaries, and memoirs ofthe soldiers themselves. It is a colorful, convincing, and moving picture indeed. The book is organized in four central chapters, with a fifth, "Aftermath," which looks at how the reading experience ofthe war affected the future. Chapter one summarizes what is known about "Reading by American Men in I860" and describes what skills, expectations, and interests these men brought with them to the army. "What Civil War Soldiers Read" is discussed in the second chapter, with much attention given to "purposeful" and "religious" reading, newspapers and magazines, and reading for escape, while the settings (camp and battle, libraries and reading rooms, hospitals, and prisons) in which diis reading was done is described in chapter three. "The Sources of Soldiers' Reading Matter," chapter four, is the longest chapter in the book, and provides a wealth offascinating information on military, personal, commercial, religious, and charitable sources. Especially detailed are die accounts of die soldier newspapers and dieveryimportantwork ofthe United States Christian Commission. Each of these chapters is thoroughly documented, there is a 146-item bibliography of books, periodicals, manuscripts, and theses and dissertations...