summer 2012

6-17-12
obviously, a long time since last entry. since then i have mainly been in a fiction mode and working on a master's degree (which i have suspended temporarily...maybe indefinitely).
i visited shiloh nmp last summer with my daughter and a close friend and his daughter. it was a trip of a lifetime! i obtained quite a few titles at the park.
i am now reading shiloh: the western campaign of 1862 by o.e. cunningham, a book acquired at the bookstore at the park.
i have read two cw books that i bought there: oxford in the civil war by s. enzweiler, and this great battlefield of shiloh: history, memory, and the establishment of a civil war national military park by t. smith. both are excellent, enlightening reads.
i liked oxford, as it relates the invasion of the town in the post-corinth campaign and smith's book about the genesis of shiloh nmp. i really enjoyed the second title as it illustrated how the memorial movement started and then continued through the post war years and the years leading into the 20th century. it analyzed the many obstacles and issues in memorializing a military park.
the book i'm reading now (cunningham's shiloh) is a recent publication of a doctoral thesis written in the 1960s that is surprisingly very readable. his style is engaging and clear. i will post my observations after the conclusion.
i hope to visit ft. donelson, nashville, and franklin battlefields this summer. we will see what develops...