>> From Eng.Sun.COM!Paul.Monschke Mon Oct 18 21:30:10 1993 >> From: Paul.Monschke@Eng.Sun.COM (Robert Paul Monschke) >> Subject: The Civil War bibliography I said I would send you BASIC PUBLISHED RESOURCES FOR THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR by Michael K. Smith (73177,366) E-mail comments and suggestions. [compiled April 1993] [The following is whittled down from a considerably lengthier bibliography which I have kept up to date and occasionally distribute to classes I teach in historical method. These are NOT the only titles worth reading! ... merely those I recommend as a starting point for novices in the subject. They tend to the general and behind each are many more specialized works worth discovering, depending on your interests. See also under "Bibliographic Tools." NOTE: Under each section, titles are listed not alphabetically but in order of importance or utility -- in my own opinion, naturally. If you do not find here a title you regard as important (keeping in mind the generalized nature of this list), I'd be most interested to hear about it; it may only be on the longer bibliography, or it may be a new title I've overlooked -- though I certainly hope not...!] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ !! ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL !! U.S. War Dept. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 128v. Washington, DC: GPO, 1880-1901. U.S. Navy Dept. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. 31v. Washington, DC: GPO, 1922. Davis, George B., et al. Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.... [reprinted as: Official Military Atlas of the Civil War] Aimore, Alan Conrad. The Official Records of the American Civil War; a Researcher's Guide. West Point, NY: USMA, 1972. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ready-Reference Tools Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Compiled and arranged from Official Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies, Reports of the Adjutant Generals of the Several States, the Army Registers and Other Reliable Documents and Sources.... 3v. [but most reprints are in 2v.] Des Moines: Dyer Publishing Co, 1908. Sifakis, Stewart. Compendium of the Confederate Armies. 10v. NY: Facts on File, 1992-93. The Union Army; a History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861-1865. Records of the Regiments in the Union Army. Cyclopedia of Battles. Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers.... 8v. Madison, WI: Federal Publishing Co, 1908. Crute, Joseph H., Jr. Units of the Confederate States Army. Midlothian, VA: Derwent Books, 1987. Boatner, Mark M., III. The Civil War Dictionary. NY: McKay, 1959. Bowman, John S. The Civil War Almanac. NY: Facts on File, 1982. Long, E.B. The Civil War Day by Day; an Almanac, 1861-1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. Faust, Patricia L. Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. NY: Harper, 1986. Fox, William F. Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Albany: Albany Publishing Co, 1889. Livermore, Thomas L. Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America, 1861-1865. Boston: npub, 1901. Shannon, Fred Albert. The Organization and Administration of the Union Army, 1861-1865. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark, 1928. Welcher, Frank Johnson. The Union Army, 1861-1865; Organization and Operations. [Vol. I: The Eastern Theater. Other vols are supposed to be published...] Bloomington: Indiana University Pr, 1989- . Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. NY: Facts on File, 1988. [Also available as two separate vols.: "Who Was Who in the Union" & "Who Was Who in the Confederacy."] Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1959. Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1964. Hunt, Roger. Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue. Gaithersburg, MD: Olde Soldier Books, 1990. Krick, Robert K. Lee's Colonels: A Biographical Register of the Field Officers of the Army of Northern Virginia. Rev. 3d ed. Dayton, OH: Morningside Pr, 1991. List of U.S. Soldiers Executed by United States Military Authorities During the Late War. Washington, DC: U.S. War Department?, 1892. The Confederate Roll of Honor. Bryan, TX: John M. Carroll & Co, 1985. The Appomattox Roster. A List of the Paroles of the Army of Northern Virginia Issued at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.... [reprint of Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. 15, 1887] NY: Antiquarian Pr, 1962. Bibliographic Tools Dornbusch, Charles E. Regimental Publications and Personal Narratives of the Civil War; a Checklist. 4v. NY: New York Public Library, 1961-87. Cole, Garold L. Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography ofBooks and Articles, 1955-1986. Columbia: University of South Carolina Pr, 1988. Broadfoot, Thomas W. Civil War Books; a Priced Checklist. 2d ed. Wendell, NC: Avera Pr, 1983. Civil War Books; a Critical Bibliography. 2v. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1967. The Era of the Civil War, 1820-1976. Rev. ed. (Special bibliographic series, no. 11) Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army Military History Institute, 1974. Harwell, Richard B. In Tall Cotton: The 200 Most Important Confederate Books for the Reader, Researcher, and Collector. Austin: Jenkins Publishing Co, 1978. Mullins, Michael A. & Rowena Anita Reed. The Union Bookshelf; a Selected Civil War Bibliography. Wendell, NC: Broadfoot, 1982. General & Interpretative Foote, Shelby. The Civil War; a Narrative. 3v. NY: Random House, 1958-74. Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union. 8v. NY: Scribner, 1947-71. Catton, Bruce. Centennial History of the Civil War. 3v. [includes: The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword, & Never Call Retreat] NY: Doubleday, 1961-65. Smith, Page. Trial by Fire: A People's History of the Civil War and Reconstruction. (People's history of the United States, v.5) NY: McGraw-Hill, 1982. McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. (Oxford history of the United States, v.6) NY: Oxford University Pr, 1988. Leckie, Robert. None Died in Vain: The Saga of the American Civil War. NY: Harper Collins, 1990. Davis, William C. The Imperiled Union, 1861-1865. 2v. [includes: The Deep Waters of the Proud & Stand in the Day of Battle] Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1982-83. Catton, Bruce. The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War. NY: American Heritage, 1960. The American Civil War. (The West Point military series) Wayne, NY: Avery Publishing Group, 1987. Randall, James G. & David Donald. Civil War and Reconstruction. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1969. Rhodes, James Ford. History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the Restoration of Home Rule in the South. 7v. NY: npub, 1892-1906. Donald, David H. Why the North Won the Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1960. Why the South Lost the Civil War. Athens: University of Georgia Pr, 1986. Pressly, Thomas J. Americans Interpret their Civil War. Glencoe, IL: Free Pr, 1965. Craven, Avery O. An Historian and the Civil War. Chicago: University of Chicago Pr, 1964. Davis, Burke. Our Incredible Civil War. NY: Holt Rinehart, 1960. Miller, Francis T. (ed). The Photographic History of the Civil War. 10v. NY: Review of Reviews, 1911. Davis, William C. (ed). The Image of War, 1861-1865. 6v. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981-84. Williams, Henry Warner. The Civil War: The Artists' Record. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1961. Webb, Williard (ed). Crucial Moments of the Civil War. NY: Bonanza Books, 1961. General Military History Buel, Clarence C. & Robert U. Johnson (eds). Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 4v. NY: Century, 1887. Swinton, William. The Twelve Decisive Battles of the War: A History of the Eastern and Western Campaigns, in Relation to the Actions That Decided Their Issue. NY: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1867. Hattaway, Herman. How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War. Champaign: University of Illinois Pr, 1983. Evans, Clement A. (ed). Confederate Military History. 13v. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Co, 1899. [NOTE: Vols. 2-11 cover one or two states each; vols. 1 & 12 include a variety of broad topics. Vol. 13 is "Biographies of Confederate Soldiers Residing in the North."] Williams, Kenneth Powers. Lincoln Finds a General; a Military Study of the War. 5v. NY: Macmillan, 1949-59. Deaderick, John Barron. Strategy in the Civil War. Harrisburg, PA: Military Service publishing Co, 1946. McWhiney, Grady & Perry D. Jamieson. Attack and Die; Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Pr, 1982. Adams, Michael C.C. Our Masters the Rebels: A Speculation on Union Military Failure in the East, 1861-1865. Cambridge: Harvard University Pr, 1978. Meneely, Alexander Howard. The War Department; a Study in Mobilization and Administration. NY: Columbia University Pr, 1928. Vandiver, Frank E. Rebel Brass: The Confederate Command System. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1956. Heleniak, Roman J. & Lawrence J. Hewitt (eds). The Confederate High Command & Related Topics. The 1988 Deep Delta Civil War Symposium: Themes in Honor of T. Harry Williams. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Co, 1990. Freeman, Douglas Southall. Lee's Lieutenants; a Study in Command. 3v. NY: Scribner, 1942-44. Simpson, Harold B. Brawling Brass, North and South; the Most Famous Quarrels.... Waco: Texian Pr, 1960. Wiley, Bell Irvin. The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943. Wiley, Bell Irvin. The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1952. Stern, Philip Van Doren (ed). Soldier Life in the Union and Confederate Armies. Bloomington: Indiana University Pr, 1961. Congdon, Don. Combat; the Civil War. NY: Delacorte, 1967. Barton, Michael. Goodmen; the Character of Civil War Soldiers. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Pr, 1981. Catton, Bruce. Mr. Lincoln's Army. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1951. Causes & Preliminaries Stampp, Kenneth M. The Imperiled Union; Essays on the Background of the Civil War. NY: Oxford University Pr, 1980. Stampp, Kenneth M. The Causes of the Civil War. Rev. ed. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1974. Rozwenc, Edwin C. (ed). The Causes of the American Civil War. 2d ed. (Problems in American civilization series) Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1972. Trefousse, Hans L. (ed). The Causes of the Civil War; Institutional Failure or Human Blunder? NY: Holt Rinehart, 1971. Freehling, William W. The Road to Disunion. 2v. NY: Oxford University Pr, 1990- . [Vol. 2 not yet published.] Craven, Avery O. Civil War in the Making, 1815-1860. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1959. McCardell, John. The Idea of a Southern Nation: Southern Nationalist and Southern Nationalism, 1830-1860. NY: Norton, 1979. Craven, Avery O. The Growth of Southern Nationalism, 1848-1861. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1953. Craven, Avery O. The Coming of the Civil War. 2d ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Pr, 1957. Potter, David M. The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861. NY: Harper, 1976. Holt, Michael F. The Political Crisis of the 1850s. NY: Wiley, 1978. Hamilton, Holman. Prologue to Conflict; the Crisis and Compromise of 1850. Lexington: University Pr of Kentucky, 1964. Dumond, Dwight L. The Antislavery Origins of the Civil War in the United States. np: npub, 1939. Rawley, James A. Race and Politics: "Bleeding Kansas" and the Coming of the Civil War. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1969. Fite, Emerson D. The Presidential Campaign of 1860. NY: Macmillan, 1911. Stampp, Kenneth M. And the War Came: The North and the Secession Crisis, 1860-1861. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1950. Dumond, Dwight L. The Secession Movement, 1860-1861. NY: ??, 1931. Confederacy -- General Coulter, E. Merton. The Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1950. Thomas, Emory M. The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865. NY: Harper, 1979. May, Robert E. The Southern Dream of a Caribbean Empire, 1854-1862. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1973. Vandiver, Frank E. Their Tattered Flags; the Epic of the Confederacy. NY: Harper's Magazine Pr, 1970. Yearns, W. Buck (ed). The Confederate Governors. Athens: University of Georgia Pr, 1984. Politics & Special Topics Cornish, Dudley T. The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army. NY: Longmans Green, 1956. Berlin, Ira, et al (ed). The Black Military Experience. (Freedom: a documentary history of emancipation, series 2) Cambridge: Cambridge University Pr, 1982. Hesseltine, William B. Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology. Columbus: Ohio State University Pr, 1930. Klement, Frank L. Dark Lanterns: Secret Political Societies, Conspiracies, and Treason Trials in the Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1984. Wright, Edward Needles. Conscientious Objectors in the Civil War. NY: Oxford University Pr, 1931. Cook, Adrian. The Armies of the Night; the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. Lexington: University Pr of Kentucky, 1974. Moore, Albert Bunton. Conscription and Conflict in the Confederacy. NY: Macmillan, 1924. Tatum, Georgia Lee. Disloyalty in the Confederacy. NY: ??, 1972. Paludan, Philip S. Victims; a True Story of the Civil War. Knoxville: Brownlee, Richard S. Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy: Guerrilla Warfare in the West, 1861-1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1958. Anderson, Charles Carter. Fighting by Southern Federals. NY: Neale Publishing Co, 1912. [400-page discussion of the 630,000+ Southerners, Southern-born residents of the North, & freedmen who fought for the Union.] Edwards, William B. Civil War Guns; the Complete Story of Federal and Confederate Small Arms. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Co, 1962. Albaugh, William A. Confederate Arms. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Co, 1957. Albaugh, William A. Confederate Edged Weapons. NY: Harper, 1960. Lord, Francis Alfred. Civil War Sutlers and Their Wares. NY: Yoseloff, 1969. Baruch, Mildred C. Civil War Union Monuments; a List of Union Monuments, Markers, and Memorials of the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Washington, DC: Daughters of Union Veterans, 1978. Widener, Ralph W. Confederate Monuments; Enduring Symbols of the South and the War Between the States. Washington, DC: Andromeda Associates, 1982. Branches of the Service & Special Military Topics -- Artillery -- Naisawald, L. Van Loan. Grape and Canister; the Story of the Field Artillery of the Army of the Potomac, 1861-1865. NY: Oxford University Pr, 1960. Wise, Jennings Cropper. The Long Arm of Lee; or, The History of the Artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia. With a Brief Account of the Confederate Bureau of Ordnance. 2v. Lynchburg, VA: J.P. Bell, 1915. --- Cavalry --- Carter, Samuel. The Last Cavaliers; Confederate and Union Cavalry in the Civil War. NY: St. Martin, 1979. Johnson, James Ralph. Horsemen Blue and Gray; a Pictorial History. NY: Oxford University Pr, 1960. Jones, Virgil Carrington. Gray Ghosts and Rebel Raiders. NY: Holt, 1956. Starr, Stephen Z. The Union Cavalry in the Civil War. 3v. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1979-85. Oates, Stephen B. Confederate Cavalry West of the River. Austin: University of Texas Pr, 1961. -- Engineers -- Nichols, James Lynn. Confederate Engineers. Tuscaloosa, AL: Confederate Publishing Co, 1957. -- Marines -- Donnelly, Ralph W. Biographical Sketches of the Commissioned Officers of the Confederate Marine Corps. Alexandria, VA: The Author, 1973. Donnelly, Ralph W. Service Records of the Confederate Enlisted Marines. Washington, DC: The Author, 1979. -- Medical Corps -- Adams, George Worthington. Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War. NY: Schuman, 1952. Cunningham, Horace H. Doctors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Service. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Pr, 1958. Barton, George. Angels of the Battlefield; a History of the Labors of the Catholic Sisterhoods in the Late Civil War. Philadelphia: Catholic Arts Publishing Co, 1897. -- Signal Corps -- Brown, J. Willard. The Signal Corps, U.S.A., in the War of the Rebellion. Boston: B. Wilkins & Co, 1896. -- Miscellaneous Units -- Haydon, F. Stansbury. Aeronautics in the Union and Confederate Armies, with a Survey of Military Aeronautics Prior to 1861. ("Vol. 1"; no other vols. published) Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Pr, 1941. Lord, Francis A. Bands and Drummer Boys of the Civil War. NY: Yoseloff, 1966. Goff, Richard D. Confederate Supply. Durham, NC: Duke University Pr, 1969. A GUIDE FOR THE CIVIL WAR BOOK COLLECTOR Compiled by E. E. Billings *** GENERAL CIVIL WAR BIBLIOGRAPHIES *** Louise Arnold, The Era of the Civil War, 1820-1876, (Carlisle Barracks, Pa.: US Army Military Institute Special Bibliographic Series no. 11, 1982), could serve as a guide to starting a collection. This 704-page book is an excellent source for looking up all aspects of the Civil War with possible interest or collection in mind. The entries are not annotated. Tom Broadfoot's Civil War Books: A Priced Checklist With Advice (Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing, 1990) is useful for prices of books which are based upon sales by a selected group of dealers. The arrangement of books is alphabetical. No analysis is made of the content of the books. Garold L. Cole, Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles, 1955-1986 (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1988) is an annotated list of 1,395 books and articles appearing over a 30-year period. Books that are exact reprints of earlier volumes with little or no additional material are excluded. For periodicals over 100 historical journals and magazines were consulted. A detailed index guides the reader through the maze of available literature. Civil War Books: A Critical Bibliography, a two-volume set by Allan Nevins, James I. Robertson, Jr., and Bell I. Wiley (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1967-69) is essential for anyone wanting to collect Civil War books. Under these three editors, fifteen historians selected nearly 6,000 books and wrote brief commentaries on them. The selection of books was, on the whole, excellent, although hampered somewhat by the fact that choice of books was governed by availability of Library of Congress cards. Charles E. Dornbusch, Military Bibliography of the Civil War, 4 volumes (New York: New York Public Library, 1961-87) is particularly valuable for determining what has been written about regiments, North and South. Titles are grouped by military units in some sections and under subject headings in others. One caution: writings by members of regiments are not necessarily about that regiment. The campaign references do little more than introduce the subject. Despite claims to the contrary, this work does not supplant the Bibliography of State Participation in the Civil War (Washington, D.C.: War Department Library, 1913) since it does not include navy and civilian topics. Robin Higham, A Guide to the Sources of United States Military History (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1975) contains a good summary of excellent recent books on the Civil War on pages 216- 46. It contains concise evaluations of books on policy and strategy, operations in the East, operations in the West, special studies, and primary sources. Susan K. Kinnell, Military History of the United States: An Annotated Bibliography (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO) is a bibliographic study that will aid anyone wanting to collect on military history. Civil War materials are on pages 59-100. This work contains a good analysis of each item. Magazine articles are included. Lee W. Merideth has compiled the Civil War Times and Civil War Times Illustrated 30 Year Comprehensive Index, April 1959- February 1989 (Twentynine Palms, California: Lee Merideth, 1990). This is a handy guide for research. One drawback is that the index lists only the page on which the desired article begins--there is no indication of how long the article is. [Subsequently, Lee Merideth has also published Guide to Civil War Periodicals, Vol. 1, 1991, which indexes articles, reviews, people, places and events in America's Civil War Magazine; Civil War, the Magazine of the Civil War Society; Blue & Gray Magazine; Gettysburg Magazine and Civil War-related articles in Military History Magazine, all from inception through 1990. CWTI from March 1989 through 1990.] An excellent guide to naval affairs in the Civil War is American Civil War Navies: A Bibliography, by Myron J. Smith, Jr. (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1972). Its 2,800 numbered entries span the period between the 1850s and 1970s. Citations include books, scholarly papers, periodical or magazine articles, documents of American or English origin, and important doctoral and masters degree papers. *** THE SOUTH *** Confederate Imprints: A Bibliography of Southern Publications >From Secession to Surrender, by T. Michael Parrish and Robert M. Willingham, Jr. (Austin, Texas: Jenkins Publishing, 1984), is a detailed listing of 9,500 books, pamphlets, broadsides, maps, pictorial prints and sheet music produced throughout the South during the war. It is buttressed by a 200-page index which gives detailed information on all entries. This work is invaluable in identifying publications. In Tall Cotton: The 200 Most Important Confederate Books for the Reader, Researcher and Collector (Austin, Texas: Jenkins Publishing, 1978) by the late Richard B. Harwell, is a "guide to an imaginary collection designed to help an imagined reader find his own version of the Confederacy." Only books about the Confederate side and from the Confederate point of view are included. It is essential for analyses of books included. E. Merton Coulter, Travels in the Confederate States (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1948) is especially good for studying the home front, particularly for localities. It analyzes 493 accounts of life in the Confederacy. Douglas Southall Freeman, The South to Prosperity: An Introduction to the Writing of Confederate History (New York: Scribners, 1951), should be read from cover to cover. Dr. Freeman not only evaluates books, he also adds background information not available elsewhere, answering such questions as why a book was written, information on the author, and comparison of books on similar subjects. John H. Wright, Compendium of the Confederacy: An Annotated Bibliography, 2 volumes (Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing, 1989) is an attempt to gather a listing of every book, pamphlet and article ever published relating to the Confederacy. Wright analyzed about 200 serials for articles of Confederate content. The periodicals analyzed (many of which had never been indexed) were read from cover to cover. Each entry contains detailed information on the subject. *** THE NORTH *** Eugene C. Murdock has compiled The Civil War in the North: a selective Annotated Bibliography (New York, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1987). Five thousand sixty-eight items are annotated on all aspects of Northern society during the conflict. This is a valuable starting point to begin a collection. The Union Bookshelf: A Selected Civil War Bibliography, by Michael Mullins and Rowena Reed (Wendell, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing, 1982) is a two-volume reference book for the study of the Union side of the war. One hundred fourteen titles are presented with bibliographic information. Supplemental sections of unit histories and personal reminiscences also are included. The work covers social, economic, and political as well as military aspects of the war. The Union Army, 1861-1865: Organizations and Operations, The Eastern Theater, by Frank J. Welcher (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1989) is the first single volume to narrate the organization and operations of the Union Army in eastern campaigns. The author's purpose is to save time in finding that which might be gleaned from the Official Records, but only after tedious, detailed searching. The work includes a good summary of all eastern campaigns. *** COMPREHENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHIES *** Often researchers need to get complete bibliographic information on books for which they may have only an author or title. In such cases, comprehensive bibliographies can be of great value. The United States Catalog, 4th Edition (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1928) lists all books in print on January 1, 1928. Earlier editions of this work were produced in 1899, 1902, and 1912. Books are entered under author, publisher and title. The United States Catalog gives the edition, the price, the name and address of the publisher, the number of pages and the name of the translator or editor if there is one. The Cumulative Book Index, published since 1928, updates the United States Catalog. It adds such important items as books published by university presses and other institutions and societies, and selected works of the national and state governments. Additionally, it tells whether a book has been revised, and whether new material has been added. Originally published in cumulative volumes every 4 years, it is now published monthly with annual cumulations. These two reference sources constitute the most comprehensive record of books printed in the United States from 1898 to date. *** SOURCES FOR BOOK REVIEWS *** To keep up with new Civil War books as they are published and to evaluate Civil War books new and old, indexes to book reviews can be very useful. A useful source in evaluating books for research or general reading is the Book Review Digest, which dates from 1905. Reviews are skillfully condensed from some 70 general magazines. The book reviewed must be hard-bound and published in the United States. To be reviewed, a non-fiction book must have had two or more reviews. A limitation is that books reviewed are for the general reader. Closely related to the Book Review Digest is the Book Review Index, which began in 1965. Published quarterly, the first cumulation contained some 13,000 citations to 9,500 books. It lists author entries only, covering about 180 periodicals. It is excellent for reviews of books by scholars and popular writers. Reviews are listed about six weeks after books are published. This is a "current guide to current reviews of current books," and because of its inclusiveness, it is probably of marginal use for Civil War items. /end of file/