Got interested in the Civil War only maybe 2 years ago and read about one book on it each 6 weeks. Love it. My dad's been into it since the 50s and cries sometimes about the fact that now is the first time he's ever had anyone to talk to about it. (I call him on skype.) He's got a giant library on it and what's left of a huge store of memories I could have accessed easily if I'd gotten into it before he got so old. As a kid he took us around to some of the battlefields, mainly in Tenn. There were still a couple drummer boy vets alive at about that time. I remember walking into farmer's barns with Dad and they had old stuff they'd find in their fields for sale for pennies.
Latest books I've read are This Nation of Suffering, Grant's Secret Service, and Inside War (I was born in St. Louis to German immigrants; fascinating to learn of their role, though that book is mainly about the rest of the state) and now am starting "Grant and Sherman, the Friendship that won the war", which my dad liked. Anyway, I found all three of those to be stimulating reading for someone who's familiar with the basics and interested in soaking up all the lesser known stuff he can find on the margins.
I live in Korea now, get too little time to read nowadays (used to read a lot when I traveled a lot but thankfully don't do that much anymore). Also, got sucked into reading now about the Korean War! (MacArthur turns out to have been a colossal fuck up.)
Sorry to not be more directly responsive guys, but will always be interested to read whatever you or others write on the issue, including book recommendations. Sometimes one can get them cheap on Amazon. I always check in used bookstores too when I travel around in the States.
posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )
