The Klob Law Firm, LLC

With the Christmas holiday fast approaching, the following are a few good books on military law and history worth reading or reading again:

"The Civil War" by Bruce Catton (American Heritage Publishing; 2004): Bruce Catton was one of the foremost historians on the Civil War and an expert authority on the Union Army of the Potomac.  While he also wrote numerous other books which provide more detail into the campaigns, battles and history of the Army of the Potomac, however, this single-volume summary is an excellent overview of the causes, events and leaders of the Civil War.  Catton's other works (including "This Hallowed Ground" and "A Stillness at Appomattox") are also worth reading more than once and provide some of the best detailed accounts of the Civil War and the Union Army available.

"Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America" by William C. Davis (Free Press; 2002): The majority of books available on the Confederacy are focused primarily or exclusively on military topics, with little focus on the home front or the internal politics of the Confederacy.  This book provides insight into the political and sociological forces that brought about the Confederacy, and the insurmountable problems experienced by the Confederacy during its brief existence resulting from inadequate industrial and other resources to simultaneously form a new government while also engaging in total war.  The portions of this book which discuss the near total breakdown of the civil and criminal justice systems in the South during the Civil War, as well as the difficulty in maintaining order and discipline within the military, will be of interest to both lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

"Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War" by Tony Horwitz (Vintage; 1999): Horwitz provides an interesting and amusing travelogue about various Civil War battlefields and surrounding communities and how many of the issues from the Civil War still resonate today and why, more than any other conflict, the Civil War continues to have lasting impact and relevance.

"Shiloh" by Shelby Foote (Vintage; 1991): "Shiloh" is an excellent and readable historical novel by renowned Civil War author Shelby Foote.  This book provides an excellent understanding of one of the Civil War's most significant earliest battles in the Western Theater.

"Muskets, Knives and Bloody Marshes: The Fight for Colonial Georgia" by Judson J. Connor (Saltmarsh Press; 2001): This short book can be read in one sitting, and it provides an excellent and readable overview of military operations between British and Spanish forces in Colonial Georgia in the mid-1700's.  The primary focus of the book is related to the Battle of Bloody Marsh and other skirmishes near Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, but also covers other battles which occurred along the Georgia coast as well as the failed attempt by the British to take the Spanish fortress at St. Augustine.  The author is a retired Army officer and has done an excellent job explaining the tactics used in these early Georgia military operations, including layman-friendly sidebar explanations of 18th century weapons and tactics that make the book more readable, and this book will be of interest to anyone interested in colonial military history or Georgia history in general.

Copyright 05 December 2011 by Klob Law Firm (All Rights Reserved)