alpharaposa (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alpharaposa) wrote2010-04-18 11:12 am
alpharaposa) wrote2010-04-18 11:12 am
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Book review: Secret Missions of the Civil War
A while back I picked up Secret Missions of the Civil War, by Philip Van Doren Stern. I finished it a bit ago, but didn't get around to posting a review until now.
It's an interesting format. The stories are told in order by date, with sections broken up by year. The author starts each section with a summary of the year's events, then begins each story with a little intro to set the stage. After the story (which is from some contemporary account), he will provide a little information on what happened to the people who were involved.
Given the neatly divided nature of the book into years and stories, I ended up doing most of my reading in the bathroom. The stories were long enough to be interesting, but short enough that I could easily put the book back down.
If you're at all interested in either Civil War history or spy history, it's a good read. The book has some surprises, unless you're a real Civil War nut and already know all the trivia possible. The accounts are mostly first-hand, but sometimes written well after the fact. Van Doren Stern's intros and summaries help to place them within the context of the Civil War, which I found very helpful.
I don't recommend it as something to hit all at once, but instead as a good book to read in bits. All the different authors and the structure prevents it from functioning well as a single narrative. So, good for the bathroom, or for brief rests between busy periods.
It's an interesting format. The stories are told in order by date, with sections broken up by year. The author starts each section with a summary of the year's events, then begins each story with a little intro to set the stage. After the story (which is from some contemporary account), he will provide a little information on what happened to the people who were involved.
Given the neatly divided nature of the book into years and stories, I ended up doing most of my reading in the bathroom. The stories were long enough to be interesting, but short enough that I could easily put the book back down.
If you're at all interested in either Civil War history or spy history, it's a good read. The book has some surprises, unless you're a real Civil War nut and already know all the trivia possible. The accounts are mostly first-hand, but sometimes written well after the fact. Van Doren Stern's intros and summaries help to place them within the context of the Civil War, which I found very helpful.
I don't recommend it as something to hit all at once, but instead as a good book to read in bits. All the different authors and the structure prevents it from functioning well as a single narrative. So, good for the bathroom, or for brief rests between busy periods.