Travels to Hallowed Ground: A Historian's Journey to the American Civil War

by Emory M. Thomas

Book Overview

A Historian's Journey to the American Civil War. 155 pp., cloth, dj. New in dust jacket. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0872494772
• ISBN13: 9780872494770
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
• Length: 155 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A book for those that like to visit CW historical sites

This is a small book about the author's visits to several war sites throughout the country. He writes as an authority on the CW but also as a common history loving travelor who gets an extra feel for history by actually visiting the sites. His description of the battle of Shiloh on what is described today as golf course cared for lawn along with a haunting synopsis of the battle which includes the brutally high number of casualties gives the reader a true feeling of what its like to visit this virtual shrine of the western theater. In addition, to some of the seriousness of the book the author injects humor at sites that are historical but much smaller in scale and regretfully less preserved. My favorite description is of the battle of Roanoke Island in N.C. just west of Nags Head. An excellent description of how General Wise's confederate forces were not only no match for the Burnside led amphibious attack but that the Confederates fortified the fort on the wrong end of the Island. The forts were on the north end while the south was the vulnerable end that was attacked. Thomas notes with some whimsy that the key portion of the land battle is left to your imagination as a the remains of the small earth work is only partially there but the road is flanked by swamp essentially preserving the site. The forts on the north end are now under water. Its a site worth a visit but amusing because so little remains of the battle. Its the type of book best appreciated by those that like to visit historical sites and have the ability to appreciate the lay of the land with attempts to ignore gas stations that are now on battlefield ground. Thomas is a nice contrast to the former expert on the Little Big Horn Graham who in spite of his excellent data collection never visited the site even when he actually had a chance. A great book to relax to for those that love wandering the fields.