This unique collection of writings by the celebrated author David Madden provides a multitude of reflections on the Civil War and Reconstruction; from nonfiction to fiction. Included are Madden’s examination of key works by historians James McPherson and Fletcher Pratt; the story of the effort to simultaneously burn nine bridges by nine unionist guerrilla bands in the most complicated and coordinated guerrilla tactic of the war; and rediscoveries of both classic and contemporary works of Civil War fiction from William Faulkner; Joseph Stanley Pennell; and more. Alongside these essays are pieces from Madden’s Civil War novel; Sharpshooter; which illustrate the interconnectedness of fiction and nonfiction.This meshing of iconoclastic and controversial pieces includes varied perspectives on every aspect of the war and reconstruction; from culture and civilian life to an imagining of Abraham Lincoln’s critique of how historians have recorded the war and its aftermath. By exploring this web of perception; we can better understand the war and; in turn; shed greater light on the present and the future.
#1692415 in Books 2009-05-06Original language:English 10.00 x .19 x 8.00l; .53 #File Name: 144212109278 pages
Review
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Over-hyped and under-editedBy Raphael A. RiccioBased on the description of this book; apparently crafted by the author himself; I had expected something much better. The book's marketing far surpasses its actual content; although it does have some redeeming value. Scarpaci should be congratulated for attempting to cover a subject that is sorely in need of attention in the English language. He seems to have made a reasonable effort to put the Italian battleships in a much broader context; and he has; as at least one other reviewer has commented; a very impressive number of photographs to complement the text. That's about as much as I can say on the credit side. Unfortuantely; at least in my opinion; the debit side far outweighs anything positive. Because of the paper stock used (non-coated) and the size of the photographs; photo quality is poor at best. It should also be noted that many; if not most; of the pictures have been copied (or pirated might be a better word) with no proper credit given to the source; I am highly skeptical that most are official USN or National Archives photos; as the author states; without actually counting and comparing them to Italian sources I am familiar with; it appears to me that most are actually Italian photographs. It is a tossup as to whether Scarpaci's grammar is worse than the photographs; it certainly is horrible; and probably weighs in at about the fifth grade level. Someone should have at least attempted to edit it. Added to that are numerous misspellings of Italian names or words; such as Columbo instead of Colombo; and confusion of Italian singular and plural words. These aesthetic and administrative shortcomings are compounded by any number of flat-out substantive or factual mistakes; such as stating in the caption on page 12 that the three main gun turrets on Italia were demiliatarized by cutting the two outer barrels on each turret; whereas in fact all three guns on each turret were cut; the picture shows only the outer guns cut; which was standard procedure prior to cutting the third (middle)gun. This book inadequately and only temporarily fills a void in English language publications concerning the Italian Navy in WW II; thankfully; there are at least two excellent books currently on the ways in English; so to speak; that I am aware of that deal with the WW II Italian Navy; and that hopefully will be out within the next 18 months. All in all; this is a most disappointing work that; if reprinted; should be looked at very seriously at least from an editing standpoint.23 of 24 people found the following review helpful. Bad grammar; inaccurate technical dataBy Robert Holmes WeymouthThe book needs re-editing badly and the statistics for the 38.1cm mounts of the Littorio class are innacurate. He uses the weight of shell of the 38cm/40 of the Caracciolo and Livorno class and the range of the Duilio class for the Littorio. The selection of pictures is outstanding and the artwork; while excellent often blurs features on the ships. On the outside back cover; completely inaacurate data for the Livorno class (contrasted with the data inside the book) is given. Why the author did not proofread his work prior to publishing one wonders/0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy jcperotvery useful reference book
