In 1997, John Stanchak, an editor at Cowles Enthusiast Media (now part of Primedia)," " realized his vision of "a publication that contained the best, most up-to-date scholarship on the Civil] war, but was edited with the amateur historian in mind," with the publication of "Columbiad: A Quarterly Review of the War between the States." In the four years the journal was published, it strived to lessen the rift between the scholarly world of professional historians and the "popular" history with which the general reader is more familiar. Now, a selection of the essays that best represent the successful balance between "serious scholarship" and a narrative reading style preferred by the educated layman has been collected in "The Ongoing Civil War."

The nine essays, written by such distinguished scholars as John Marszalek, Albert Castel, Archer Jones, Mark Snell, Noah Trudeau, and others, provide deeper insight into the war, introduce the general reader to unsung heroes, and correct some popular misrepresentations of history. They cover a range of topics as diverse as conflict among commanders, the supply runs vital to the Union victory at Gettysburg, the network of scouts and spies used by Robert E. Lee, and the painstaking process of organizing and publishing the "Official Records." The synergy of sophisticated research combined with a compelling narrative style makes "The Ongoing Civil War" an enjoyable, informative work suitable for scholars and the general reader alike.

Splendidly written and dramatically illustrated, "Gettysburg to Vicksburg" is a stunning pictorial history of the first five Civil War battlefield parks: Gettysburg, Chickamauga-Chattanooga, Shiloh, Antietam, and Vicksburg. Renowned photographer A. J. Meek brings the battlefield parks into vivid focus with one hundred memorable photographs, while noted Civil War historian Herman Hattaway provides a brief history of these major battles and of the formation of parks on the battlefield grounds.

Through his striking photographs, Meek provides inspired glimpses of personal vision and historical significance, guiding the reader through the settings for the battle narratives. He also shows how the battlefield grounds are different today, as trees and grass cover hills and former breastworks.

Hattaway provides critical insight into the personalities and achievements of military leaders on both sides. He also offers extensive descriptions of the events that took place before, during, and after each battle, explaining the significance of each encounter within the larger conflict between the Union and Confederate armies. In addition, he describes what happened to the battlefield areas long after the fighting ended, as the government, veterans, and private organizations wrestled over how the actual grounds--and in some sense, the memory of the soldiers--should be preserved.

Much more than a handbook, "Gettysburg to Vicksburg" is one of the most comprehensive resources available to battlefield park visitors. With Meek and Hattaway's help, visitors will, at long last, be able to understand fully just exactly what they are seeing. This important new work will make a significant addition to Civil War scholarship and will be welcomed by scholars, students, and Civil War enthusiasts alike.

With its penetrating analyses and masterly synthesis of current scholarship, this "wonderfully clear and concise" book gives readers "the best brief military history of the Civil War available" (George Rable, author of The Confederate Republic and Civil Wars). Black-and-white photographs; maps.

In this widely heralded book first published in 1986, four historians consider the popularly held explanations for southern defeat--state-rights disputes, inadequate military supply and strategy, and the Union blockade--undergirding their discussion with a chronological account of the war's progress. In the end, the authors find that the South lacked the will to win, that weak Confederate nationalism and the strength of a peculiar brand of evangelical Protestantism sapped the South's ability to continue a war that was not yet lost on the field.

He was one of the most embattled heads of state in American history. Charged with building a new nation while waging a war for its very independence, he accepted his responsibilities reluctantly but carried them out with a fierce dedication to his ideals. Those efforts ultimately foundered on the shoals of Confederate defeat, leaving Davis stranded in public memory as both valiant leader and desolate loser.

Now two renowned Civil War historians, Herman Hattaway and Richard Beringer, take a new and closer look at Davis's presidency. In the process, they provide a clearer image of his leadership and ability to handle domestic, diplomatic, and military matters under the most trying circumstances-without the considerable industrial and population resources of the North and without the formal recognition of other nations.

Hattaway and Beringer examine Davis's strengths and weaknesses as president in light of both traditional evidence and current theories of presidential leadership. They show us a man so respected that northern colleagues regretted his departure from the U.S. Senate, but so bent on Southern independence he was willing to impose unthinkable burdens on his citizens-an apologist for slavery who was committed to state rights, even while growing nationalism in his new country called for a stronger central government.

In assessing Davis's actual administration of the Confederate state, the authors analyze the Confederate government's constitution, institutions, infrastructure, and cabinet-level administrators. They also integrate events of Davis's presidency with the ongoing war as it encroached upon the South, offering a panoramic view of military strategy as seen from the president's office. They tell how Davis reacted to the outcomes of key battles and campaigns in order to assess his leadership abilities, his relations with civilian and military authorities, and--his own personal competency notwithstanding--his poor judgment in selecting generals.

Rich in detail and exhilaratingly told with generous selections from Davis's own letters and speeches, Hattaway and Beringer provide the most insightful account available of the first and only Confederate presidency-suggesting that perhaps it was the Confederate government, rather than Davis himself, that failed. More than that, it shows us Jefferson Davis as an American leader and offers a new appreciation of his place in our country's history.

This is a marvelously interesting collection of letters written over a period of thirty years by members of the Thomas A. Watkins family of Carroll County, Mississippi. The correspondence provides an intimate look into activities in the household of Forest Place during a period of great propserity and a period of decline. The letters reveal the poignant history of Dr. Watkins, a non practicing physician, his wife, and their two daughters. Some include passages written to various favored slaves, who in return dictated their responses.

Besides offering a glimpse into the domestic life on a cotton plantation, these letters picture the years both of abundance and of twilight at Forest Place. The national sectional controversy attracts only scant attention. This antiabolitionist family watches, comments to one another, and witnesses the nation's drifting toward disunion and civil war. When it comes, the war for them remains an awful event happening at a distance, but more and more its effects become the focal subject of the correspondence. The Watkins women make uniforms and engage in raising money to benefit units at the front. As early as 1861 the plantation begins to feel the pinch of shortages and the economic discomfort of shockingly high prices. Dr. Watkins is alarmed over the growing illiquidity of Mississippi state bank notes.

At war's end the family's economic stability has been eroded. Many friends and loved ones have been lost, but for Dr. Watkins the most bitter loss comes when his beloved wife falls ill in 1865 and dies. Through the Reconstruction the family has little relief from economic struggle. Poor growing seasons and uncertain prices eventually cause Dr. Watkins to sell Forest Place and move to Texas to live near his elder daughter. Eventually the remnant of the family left in Mississippi dies off or like the patriarch moves away. Now, only the letters remain.

This biographical portrait by a well known Civil War historian brings much deserved attention to an exceptional Confederate military figure who became one of the New South's most progressive leaders.

Herman Hattaway's clear, swift narrative depicts Lee in brilliant performance at Second Manassas, Chickasaw Bayou, Nashville, and after the war as a leader who used his military skills and discipline to work in bringing prosperity and education into the defeated South.

After the war Lee established a home in Mississippi and found fulfillment in his calling to be the first president of Mississippi A & M College (today Mississippi State University), where he preached the message of applying brain power to farming. His admirers bestowed upon him the title "Father of Industrial Education in the South."

Though the significance of Stephen D. Lee was long overlooked in historical perspectives of the Civil War and the development of the New South, Hattaway's appreciative study has remedied a case of unintended neglect by previous historians.

Born in New Orleans, Herman Hattaway grew up in the Deep South. While it might not seem such a stretch for him to have become one of the foremost authorities on the Civil War and Southern history, Hattaway was actually at a loss for a career choice when he stumbled into the class of Professor T. Harry Williams at Louisiana State University. Williams's lectures and writings were so inspiring to Hattaway that he became a regular in his classes, receiving his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. all under the professor's tutelage.

This collection of essays is a compendium of Hattaway's writings from throughout his more-than-forty-year career. He is the author or coauthor of five books that were selections of the History Book Club--"Jefferson Davis: Confederate President; Shades of Blue and Gray: An Introductory Military History of the Civil War"; "Why the South Lost the Civil War; How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War; "and "General Stephen D. Lee." He is also the author of the text for "Gettysburg to Vicksburg: The Five Original Civil War Battlefield Parks."

Hattaway is a captivating historian who always seeks to engage others in the study of history. He has made many important scholarly contributions to our understanding of the Civil War, including new information on the military use of balloons, the relevance of religion in warfare, and the nature of good (and bad) military leadership. This book will appeal to the many historians and others who have been influenced by Hattaway over the years. It demonstrates how he has evolved as a historian and brings to light many essays that were never before published or published only in specialized journals.