As 2010 winds down, there are many lists being compiled, the best of the year stuff. I thought, how about a list dealing with battlefield studies? Not only studies published in 2010, but all-time. Only the definitive apply here. Looking for the best of the best! Are you game?
There are only 2 restrictions. First, the US (or Colonies) had to be involved directly. Second, I ask that the study be limited to only one campaign/battle.
My list is heavy with CW titles, since that's my main focus. My Top 5 are as follows:
5 -- Ed Bearrs' Vicksburg trilogy
I agree that Ed's writing is Sahara dry. However, Bearrs' Vicksburg study is a classic. In the word's of Ian Fleming's most famous character, it is a martini, shaken not stirred, and delivered in a champagne goblet. I can't see anyone EVER being more definitive when it comes to Vicksburg. It is not an easy or entertaining read. It is only for the most devout battlefield stomper and historian.
4 -- William Shea's Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign
Released in 2009, it is the youngest. This is required reading for the Stamp Guys summer 2011 Trans-MS trip. Thanks Pete for putting this together. My CW bucket list will be cut in half!
3 -- Richard B. Frank's Guadalcanal
What a massive undertaking! A lot more indepth than my first historical read, the diary of journalist Richard Tregaskis. I tried to think of another definitive WW2 book, but drew a blank. But then again, I am not as learned on the conflict as others in our group.
2 -- Frank O'Reilly's The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock
A tour by Frank and a read of this study will make one quite proficient on Fredericksburg. This is my favorite CW city, equidistant between Richmond & DC.
1 -- John Hennessy's Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas
IMHO, this is the BEST battlefield study ever written. Bar none! Jamie, the Stamp Guys' founding father, is prominently mentioned in the acknowledgements. It has all the important ingredients -- AOP's Fifth Corps and Zouaves! But seriously, I wish Mr. Hennessy would take time off from his NPS job to write again. His last book was a masterpiece!
Comments welcome.
Mike
Mike: Here's my list.
ReplyDelete1) The Bastard War by A.J. Barker.
2) The Civil War in the American West by Alvin Josephy Jr.
3) Wings of Morning by Richard Childers.
4) The Washing of the Spears by Donald Morris.
5) Dreadnaght by Robert K. Massie.
The Bastard War is the all encompassing story of the British effort to wrest Mesopatamia from the Turks during WWI.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil War in the American West is probably not within your definition of a campaign study, but it atempts to study all of the action in the West during the CW and to tie the grand strategy together. It covers such interesting affairs as the Santee Sioux uprising in Minnesota, the masssacre of Indians at Sand Creek by Colorado (Union) voluteers; the protection of the Gold Routes to California by Ohio boys who thought they were volunteering to fight the Rebs (not the Reds, and certainly not monumental Plains blizzards); the doomed Confederate invasion of New Mexico; Pea Ridge and Prarie Grove; Sabine Crossroads and Pleasant Hill.
ReplyDeleteWings of Morning is a posthole study of the B-24 crew of Lt. Richard Farrington (and in particular of turret gunner Howard Goodner) from enlistment through training schools in the U.S. to deployment to England and the grinding war of attrition that was the reality of daylight bombing by the 8th Air Force. This book is like no other military study, because it involves the personnel story of the author, who discovers as much about himself as he does about Goodner and his crewmates. The search for surviving Farrington crew members is EPIC.
ReplyDeleteJamie,
ReplyDeleteI do not have "Civil War in the American West." Picked it up a couple of times and put it back on the shelf. Have to give it more consideration.
Since I'm developing an affection for the Eight AF, "Wings of Mourning" sounds like a must-have.
On another tangent, got an 1812 book for Christmas entitled "The Civil War of 1812," by Alan Taylor. A Barnes and Noble review, written by Michael O'Donnell, explains:
"Scholars frequently portray the war as a draw between Britain and the United States; each side of course thinks that it won. But to Taylor, bragging rights are less interesting than ethnicity and allegiance: the war was a pastiche of loyalties and rivalries between Americans, Canadians, Irish, American Indians, slaves, and Britons. In a bold rhetorical move, Taylor recasts a frequently overlooked conflict not merely as pivotal to the development of the United States, but as a "civil war" for the North American continent."
Interesting concept and entertaining read, so far.
Any 1812 recommendations gentlemen?
Mike
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteI see you included "The Washing of the Spears." Have you ever read "Crossing the Buffalo : The Zulu War of 1879," by Adrian Greaves? Saw it at a store and was gonna pick it up next time. Someone else was quicker on the draw ...
Mike
The Washing of the Spears is a definitive account of the Great Zulu War of 1879. The book discusses everything from the discovery of southern Africa (the Bushman discovered the inland areas, then the Dutch & British discovered the coastal areas and only then did the Zulu and Xhosa penetrate thed tsetse fly zone with their herds of cattle and descend from the north), to the schism in the Wesleyan Church, to the amazing rise of Shaka who united the Zulus and organized vast armies supported by a tax system along a European model.
ReplyDeleteDreadnaught is a study of the Naval arms race between the British and the German Empire from 1870 to 1914. Massie is as great a writer as he is a historian (he headed the department at Princeton when he wrote this book), and he vividly describes how such minor events as the annual regatta sponsored by the Prince of Wales (Victoria's son and the future King Edward V) and a simple telegram from Kaiser Wilhelm to Paul Krueger (the leader of the Boers in the Transvaal) turned into blazing national controversies that drove the once closely-allied nations to the brink of open hostilities. The book is filled with wonderful descriptions of luminaries such as Otto von Bismark, Cecil Rhodes, Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and a whole series of post-Bismark chancellors who struggle with the impulsive boyish nature of the Kaiser. A must read.
ReplyDeleteMike: I have not read Greaves work.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should add a sixth entry to my list:
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by Joseph Hornfischer, regarding the U.S Navy's finest moment in WWII, when Taffy 3 blunts the attack of the Japanese Imperial Navy at Leyte Gulf.
Mike: Regarding the War of 1812, I am currently reading Tecumseh's Last Stand by Sugden (a British historian). It is about the campaign AFTER Perry's victory at the Battle of Lake Erie. It is a top-notch campaign study.
ReplyDeleteJamie,
ReplyDeleteAgree with Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Tim you need to read this one! :)
I have Sugden's bio of Tecumseh & it is top notch!
Best CW study?
Mike
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteShould read "best single battle study of the CW?"
Mike