Description
From the Dust Jacket
This book is a mosaic of the daily life of soldiers during the American Civil War. Encamped in winter, on campaign, or in hills between battles, soldiers wrote. Their letters and diaries, even their sketches, testify that survival required more than beating the odds in combat. It meant keeping body and soul together against a conspiracy of circumstances. Through this album of emotions and recollections, you can experience the idealism, tedium, petty grievances, jokes and gibes, camaraderie, and desolation of the boys and men who were now soldiers. Whenever possible these excerpts—collected from hundreds of published and unpublished sources—have been painstakingly matched with photographs, sketches, or artifacts associated with the writer. An extensive network of expert Time-Life consultants have used diverse resources and access to materials in libraries, archives, and historical societies across the country to compile this dramatic account of daily life in the army. There are several reasons for the abundance of firsthand sources from the Civil War. Postage was relatively cheap, only three cents. And the mail systems were remarkably effective: mail packets were even exchanged across enemy lines. Above all, a surprising number of soldiers, not only officers hut recruits as well, could write, describing their plight with simple eloquence. From camp near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Private Benjamin F. Jackson of the 33 Alabama wrote: “Ma, I want to see you all the worse I ever did before in my life, but I don’t know when I can hear from you for we are fixing to take another march. We got orders yesterday to throw away all our clothing but one suit. We aren’t allowed to have but one pair of pants and have them on, one pair of drawers, two shirts, and one pair of socks. We have been in a line of battle or fighting … for fifteen days and it has not missed but one day but what it rained. I have … waded creeks up to my arms without anything to eat for three days at a time. It has been hard times with us and worse a coming I am afraid.” Many soldiers were capable artists who recorded scenes in diaries and sketchbooks. And professional artists, employed by magazines such as Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper Harper’s Weekly, traveled with troops to collect eyewitness views of events for readers. Besides battle scenes these correspondents, or “specials,” drew everything of possible interest to the people back home: soldiers busy at their mess, makeshift theatricals, field hospitals, the long wagon trains of armies on the march. These sketches were taken by courier to the publication where small teams of engravers transferred them to woodblocks for printing. Contemporary photographs also bring these accounts to life, animating the voice on the page with an image. Technical innovations at mid-century enabled the fledgling craft of photography to record the Civil War extensively, the first such use of the camera for an event of this magnitude. Transporting cumbersome equipment and portable darkrooms mounted on wagon beds, men like Matthew Brady and his assistants spent months traveling with the army, recording with unforgiving faithfulness the expectant gaze of new volunteers and the haggard expressions of weary veterans. So between these covers is the enduring testimony of men trapped by war. Men who faced not merely enemy soldiers, but far more constant foes: boredom, hunger and disease, and fear. Here, too, is a cross section of society in the second half of the 1800s: boys barely in their teens, farmers, freed blacks, devout Presbyterians, plantation owners, “mechanics,” schoolteachers, deserters and malingerers, heroes and cowards. As you read the words of individuals struggling to cope with the effect of events swirling around them—trying to make sense of an unknown and unknowable fate—perhaps it will be possible to understand better the shattering toll of the Civil War.
Publishing Info
Soldier Life by The Editors of Time-Life Books. From the First Printing of the 2007 edition. The ISBN is 978-0-7607-9033-5. This hardcover book measures 10-1/4″ square and has 168 pages, ending with the Index.
Condition
Enlarge the photo above. The dust jacket shows some storage but no tears, etc. The boards would be as new but for a little rubbing on the corners. The binding is strong and square and the pages are as new. Feels like this book was never read. No names or other markings noted. Stored in and ships from clean, smoke-free, pet-free home.
Shipping
Generally sent the same day payment arrives. Unless you request otherwise, I will wrap the book in plastic wrap to help protect it from the elements, create a custom-made cardboard box to ship it in, and send via Media Mail with Delivery Confirmation tracking. See the shipping page for the cost to send a three-pound Media Mail package. Insurance is an additional cost as described. I am delighted to combine postage and insurance costs if you purchase more than one item. The second item may travel for free or just a few cents more — so it’s worth taking a look at my other items before you complete your order.
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If you’d like more information about or photos of Soldier Life, please feel free to contact me. If it’s the price you don’t like, make a reasonable offer!
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