Briefly Noted

“Tennessee during the Civil War was a state in conflict with herself. She provided more than 120,000 troops to the Confederacy, mostly from Middle and West Tennessee, while 40,000 men from the eastern part of the state joined the Union forces. Overall, more than 16 percent of Tennessee’s total population entered the fray on both sides. Sadly, many of those men, and their families, failed to survive the brutal years that followed. This collection of biographical essays by noted Civil War historian and native Tennessean Randy Bishop provides insight into the lives of sixty-one sons of Tennessee who fought for home and country in both the Confederate and Union forces. While their military careers are the primary focus of the text, Bishop delves into their lives before and after their service to examine the impact their self-sacrifice had on their families and their state”

“[Skaggs’] career has been a matter of following a God-given calling.…He tells the stories of the first half of his life and of the rest, too, with natural enthusiasm, innate good nature, and an unflagging, positive Christian spirit.”

“In ‘Dixie Redux’ historians Raymond Arsenault and Orville Vernon Burton honor Hackney, gathering eclectic essays that ask what historian Charles W. Joyner terms ‘large questions in small places.’ The articles succeed in relating Southern to national and international themes and emphasizing paradoxical elements of Southern history.”

“The Volunteer State has been a pioneer in southern literature for generations, giving us such literary stars as Robert Penn Warren and Cormac McCarthy. But Tennessee’s literary legacy also involves authors such as Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, who delayed writing his first novel but won the Pulitzer Prize upon completing it. Join author Sue Freeman Culverhouse as she explores the rich literary heritage of Tennessee through engaging profiles of its most revered citizens of letters.”