PDF The Confederate States Marine Corps: The Rebel Leathernecks by Ralph W. Donnelly in History

Review

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. A fine book; and one of the only available on the subject.By Alan E. CreagerPrinted first in 1989 to the best of my knowledge; "The Rebel Leathernecks" contains a foreword by BG Edwin H. Simmons; USMC and is 337 pages long. The copy I own is a sturdy hardcover and has the exact same image shown on the front cover. My copy is a former library book; from the Burke County Public Library of North Carolina; specifically the city of Valdese. I highly approve of purchasing former library books. They tend to be less expensive and are most always well cared for. Plus; being part of a library's inventory is as close as a book can come to serving its country. So; in a way; there's a nice aspect to finding a former library book a home."The Rebel Leathernecks" has a great deal of intriguing detail within its pages. Few other books have ever been so interesting to me as this one. I mean; a book on the CS Army- you can find that almost anywhere that books are sold. A book on the CS Navy? A little harder; but still not but so hard. But the Confederate States Marine Corps? For the vast majority of my twenty years; I had no idea such a thing as the CSMC had ever existed. Books on these leathernecks in gray are not easy to come across.However; let's be honest. This is a fascinating book; but it hardly flows and draws the reader in like a Harry Turtledove novel. It doesn't quite have the gripping intensity of "The Lords of Discipline" or "The Great Santini". Rather; it is more like Grand Admiral Doenitz's "Ten Years and Twenty Days". Filled with interesting details; but unemotional and with no conscious effort to *make* the details interesting.But who says there's anything wrong with presenting material in such a way? Perhaps Ralph Donnelly in writing this book as Grand Admiral Doenitz did his made a similar decision to what Doenitz must have. "I'll put the material together and make sure the details I want to be there are there. Then I'll let everybody else decide to read it or not."So there you have it. This is a good book. Sturdily built hardcover- I am unaware of there being any paperbacks and I wouldn't recommend them if there were- and possessive of more than enough information to greatly increase one's knowledge of the CSMC. If you had an ancestor serve in the Confederate Marines; especially as an officer or senior NCO; this book may prove invaluable. But no matter what; you've got to consciously decide that you *are* interested when you sit down to read it.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The illustrations were a great help as were the photographsBy Patrick T. JudgeBoth were very factual and filled in a big gap for me about the history of the USMC and the CSMC. The illustrations were a great help as were the photographs.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The only history of the Confederate Marine CorpsBy COLONELSLADYThe author did a good job considering that his sources were limited because the Confederate Secretary of the Navy ordered all official recordsof the Confederate States Marine Corps destroyed at the end of the civil war. A good albeit brief history of the rebel Marines.