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The Confederacy Revisited: Encyclopedia of the Confederacy Joseph G. Dawson III The Confederacy produced all the trappings of a nation. It had a flag, a constitution , a national legislature and a political coterie, an army, a navy, a postal system, courts, and consulates overseas. Although at the outset the Confederacy 's boundaries were not well defined, the nation had a defining reason to be— to perpetuate the institution of slavery. Each of the states that joined the Confederacy will be forever marked by that membership. The Confederacy's brief life has inspired a grand literature and endless historical debate. Some years ago it seemed that studying the Confederate States ofAmerica and the Civil War had tapered off. Then came an upswing in interest in the Civil War era, enhanced by Ken Burns's impressive and stirring series , The Civil War, shown on PBS and then made available on videotape. Thousands of people found a new interest, or renewed an old curiosity, about the Confederacy, its leaders, plans, goals, mistakes, disasters, triumphs—all that was and might have been. Assisted by an editorial board of Paul D. Escott, Lawrence N. Powell, James I. Robertson, Jr., and Emory M. Thomas and drawing upon the labors of a battalion of qualified contributors, Richard N. Current has produced a handsome four-volume reference set, Encyclopedia ofthe Confederacy.' Current's Encyclopedia is not simply another combatant in the reference books wars. Its breadth, detail, dynamic essays, well-chosen illustrations, and comprehensiveness make it exceptional. Despite its high quality, Current's Encyclopedia will not be the last such work on the Confederacy or the Civil War. Somehow, readers, students, and libraries never seem to reach the saturation point for such materials. Current's 'Richard N. Current, Paul D. Escott, Lawrence N. Powell, James I. Robertson, Jr., and Emory M. Thomas, eds., Encyclopedia ofthe Confederacy, 4 vols. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1 993; $325.00). The four volumes are numbered consecutively from page 1 in volume one to page 1916 in volume four. Civil War History, Vol. XL, No. 4 © 1994 by the Kent State University Press ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE CONFEDERACY309 potential competitors should think twice, however, because it will be a challenge to equal his sturdy four volumes and extremely difficult to excel them. Challengers will probably find it impossible to produce a work that will be so successful in reaching such a variety of audiences. The Encyclopedia will serve general readers seeking a reliable library reference and students wanting an introduction to the Confederacy. These books will delight Civil War Round Table members who continue to take pleasure in increasing their knowledge and understanding of the war every year. Secondary teachers needing ready bibliographic references and concise coverage of hundreds of subjects will decide that they need to go no further than this collection. Professional historians, including those with an interest in the Civil War era, will find excellent summaries ofhistoriographical issues, handy descriptions ofbattles and campaigns, and cogent capsules of Confederates up and down the military, political, diplomatic , and social scales written by highly regarded colleagues. Current and his board of editors also decided to include topics that will tantalize, intrigue, and prompt readers on to further study. One of the great strengths of the Encyclopedia is the high quality of much of its writing—if such a thing dare be said about a reference book. Of course, most persons turning the Encyclopedia'?, pages would expect to find large chunks ofspace devoted to politics, military matters, diplomacy, economics (including agriculture and industry), some social and cultural topics, and biography. Reference works need their entries and articles (some herein run several large double-columned pages) to be bolstered by bibliographic citations , and most of the bibliographies are reasonably complete and up-to-date. Readers will find that Current's Encyclopedia meets or exceeds their expectations on most counts. Starting with biography, we can take some examples. Some readers may have been aware of Thomas E. Schott's comprehensive study Alexander Stephens of Georgia, a volume in the Southern Biography Series, edited by William J. Cooper, Jr.2 Schott not only reprises his careful treatment of Vice President Stephens, but he also has entries on...

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