New and Noted by H-CivWar: The 4th Michigan Regiment, The Mechanical Fuze, and the Prairie Grove Campaign

The 4th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War, Bertera, Martin N.; Crawford, Kim.. Michigan State University Press, 2010, 560 pp., $44.95.

H-CivWar reviews summarizes the book as haveing a strong narrative about the 4th Michigan from 1861 to 1866. The authors are is successful in their goal of presenting the 4th Michigan through the words of the regiment's troops and thereby humanizing the regiment. At times though some paragraphs lack focus and the editing appears inconsistent.

H-Net link: Fourth Michigan Reviewed for H-CivWar by Mike Burns

The Mechanical Fuze and the Advance of Artillery in the Civil War, McCaul Jr, Edward B., McFarland Publishing, 2010, 227 pp. $35.00.

H-CivWar finds the tht author provides a thoughful monograph that covers an often overlooked subject. The work is successfull in providing clear descriptions of complex devices. The books holds the reader's interest in an inanimate object by providing the human element of inventors and their fortunes. Yet further editing would have been helpful and the latest secondary sources should have been added.

H-Net link: The Mechanical Fuze Reviewed for H-CivWar by Justin Solonick

Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign, Shea, William L., University of North Carolina Press, 2009, 358 pp. $35.00.

H-CivWar states that the author has produced a compelling narrative of a campaign that is important but has not received its full due. The author is not excessively analytical nor indavertetnly noncommittal. The participants have a free hand to critique the campaign for themselves. The book is a sound and thorough study and may well serve as a benchmark on the Prairie Grove campaign.

H-Net link: Fields of Blood Reviewed for H-CivWar by Gary Edwards