Symposium Book Sales

The symposium is about a week away so I wanted to post again about the book sales.

All of the book prices are for symposium attendees. If you don't come you won't get these deals. After the symposium we will extend those prices to anyone else out there, I'll post the list of what's left sometime the week after the event.

As you'll see symposium attendees will get a nice discount on these books. Just one more reason to come to the event. Every book is at least 15% off of retail price, one is 60% off of retail! The average discount is 26% off of retail. Click here to order tickets.

Let's recap what a symposium ticket gets you. One, admission to an incredible event with five nationally renowned authors. There are five presentations, a panel discussion and a book signing. Two, the first 50 attendees through the door will receive a copy of Mark Hughes "The New Civil War Handbook," a $15 retail value, for free. Three, the amazing deals in the book room which will include Trailhead Graphics' award winning maps and various CDs produced by Stephen Recker, including Virtual Gettysburg. Four, breakfast and lunch are provided. That is an incredible deal for $50.

Some of the books from Savas Beatie came autographed and that is now noted on this list. So we will have signed books from authors besides the ones appearing at the event. That was very exciting to see when I opened the boxes.

We also have a book, Chickamauga Memorial, so new its not even listed on amazon as available. While they are still taking preorders you can purchase a copy and get it signed.
No the roundtable did not actually buy a moving truck, but with all the books we ordered for the symposium it feels like we need one. The book selection will be much bigger than last year. There are no pre-orders, this post is just a teaser so you can plan your purchases the day of the event.

Brigades of Gettysburg by Bradley M Gottfried (cloth) - Symposium Price $30.00, Retail Price $50.00

Artillery of Gettysburg - Gottfried by Bradley M Gottfried (cloth) - Symposium Price $15.00, Retail Price $24.95

Maps of Gettysburg: The Gettysburg Campaign June 3 – July 13 by Bradley M Gottfried (cloth) - Symposium Price $30.00, Retail Price $39.95

Maps of First Bull Run by Bradley M Gottfried (cloth) - Symposium Price $27.00, Retail Price $34.95


Kearny's Own: The History of the 1st New Jersey Brigade by Bradley M Gottfried (cloth) - Symposium Price $31.00, Retail Price $36.95


Men Stood Like Iron: How the Iron Brigade Won Its Name by Lance J. Herdegen (paper) - Symposium Price $16.00, Retail Price $19.95


Those Damned Black Hats! by Lance J. Herdegen (cloth) - Symposium Price $26.00, Retail Price $32.95


McClellan's First Campaign, March - May 1862 by Russel H Beatie (cloth) - Symposium Price $36.00, Retail Price $45.00. There will also be copies of the first two volumes in the series available. Russel Beatie is bringing these himself and the price is not yet determined but it will be a substantial discount.


Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 by Timothy B Smith (cloth) - Symposium Price $20.00, Retail Price $32.95


Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged by Timothy B Smith (cloth) - Symposium Price $26.00, Retail Price $33.00

Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation by Timothy B Smith (paper) - Symposium Price $31.00, Retail Price $38.95


This Great Battlefield of Shiloh by Timothy B Smith (paper) - Symposium Price $16.00, Retail Price $19.95


Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield by Timothy B Smith (paper) - Symposium Price $18.00, Retail Price $21.95

Chickamauga Memorial by Timothy B Smith (cloth) - Symposium Price $35.00, Retail Price $43. This is brand new, amazon only offers pre-orders, but if you attend the symposium you can pick it up and get it signed. I already bought a copy, have read it and will post a review of it here in the future.


On Many a Bloody Field: Four Years in the Iron Brigade by Alan D. Gaff (paper), Symposium Price $10.00, Retail Price $17.95


Iron Brigade: A Military History by Alan Nolan (paper) - Symposium Price $15.00, Retail Price $19.95

Lee Considered by Alan Nolan (paper) - Symposium Price $18.00, Retail Price $22.50

Giants in Their Tall Black Hats: Essays on the Iron Brigade by Alan Nolan & Sharon Vipond (cloth) - Symposium Price $18.00, Retail Price $29.95


Pickett's Charge in History and Memory by Carol Reardon (paper) - Symposium Price $15.00, Retail Price $19.95


Dear Sarah: Letters Home from a Soldier of the Iron Brigade by Coralou Peel Lassen (cloth) - Symposium Price $10.00, Retail Price $24.95


Major General Robert E. Rodes of the Army of Northern Virginia by Darrell L. Collins (cloth) - Symposium Price $26.00, Retail Price $32.95 SIGNED BY AUTHOR


Sherman's Horsemen by David Evans (paper) - Symposium Price $16.00, Retail Price $27.95

Fighting for the Confederacy: Recollections of Gen Alexander by Edward Porter Alexander (paper) - Symposium Price $20.00, Retail Price $26.00


One Continuous Fight: Retreat from Gettysburg by Eric Wittenberg, JD Petruzzi & Michael Nugent (cloth) - Symposium Price $28.00, Retail Price $34.95 SIGNED BY ALL THREE AUTHORS


Plenty of Blame to Go Around by Eric Wittenberg & JD Petruzzi (cloth) - Symposium Price $26.00, Retail Price $32.95


McClellan's War by Etahn Rafuse (cloth) - Symposium Price $23.00, Retail Price $35.00


Myth of the Lost Cause by Gary Gallagher & Alan Nolan (cloth) - Symposium Price $13.00, Retail Price $19.95

Lee and His Army in Confederate History by Gary W Gallagher (paper) - Symposium Price $16.00, Retail Price $20.95

Lee and His Generals in War and Memory by Gary W. Gallagher (paper) - Symposium Price $18.00, Retail Price $21.95


Complete Gettysburg Guide by J. David Petruzzi (cloth) - Symposium Price $31.00, Retail Price $39.95 SIGNED BY AUTHOR


Sickles at Gettysburg by James A. Hessler (cloth) - Symposium Price $26.00, Retail Price $32.95 SIGNED BY AUTHOR

Gleam of Bayonets by James V. Murfin (paper) - Symposium Price $21.00, Retail Price $24.95


Stand of the US Army at Gettysburg by Jeffrey Hall (cloth) - Symposium Price $25.00, Retail Price $34.95

General George E Pickett in Life and Legend by Lesley J Gordon (paper) - Symposium Price $16.00, Retail Price $20.95


Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society by Thomas L. Connelly (paper) - Symposium Price $17.00, Retail Price $19.95


Ninety-eight Days: Geographer’s View of Vicksburg Campaign by Warren Grabau (cloth) - Symposium Price $38.00, Retail Price $48.00


Colonel John Pelham: Lee's Boy Artillerist by William Woods Hassler (paper) - Symposium Price $16.00, Retail Price $20.95

Bing Maps

I have found a new toy, Bing Maps. At first the maps seemed the same as Google Maps, but the new wrinkle is a Bird's Eye feature. This allows you to look at the ground as if you were a bird flying over it. And you can rotate your view so you can see a spot from four different angles.

So for fun I looked at Gettysburg, Shiloh and Chattanooga. From shadows you can pick out ravines and slopes, so you can get a little better idea of the ground than a normal map gives you. Also it is helpful for Missionary Ridge as there are areas you cannot walk on that now you can see. It looks like a lot of the areas were flown in the early spring or fall so there is not a ton of foliage blocking views.

I was a bit surprised that Shiloh was mapped, but not Chickamauga. Chickamauga is near pretty good sized city while Shiloh is a fair distance from a good sized city.

I'm interested to see what other battlefields have been mapped.

"Book That Got Me Hooked"

On the Gettysburg Discussion Group is a pretty good discussion of the book that got people hooked on the Civil War.

For me its a two part answer. The first book was Across Five Aprils, which I read at some point in elementary school. I thought the book was great. I've since found a book since it was the one that sparked my interest and while its an okay book its certainly not the best I've ever read. My interest though lay dormant until around 1992 when my best friend Dan gave me a copy of Killer Angels. His interest predated mine by a bit, he was also into reenacting which was a little odd for a high schooler. Since then my obsession with the war has grown a million fold.

From time to time I'll read Killer Angels, or at least part of it. When I needed a book while waiting for mom to come out of surgery I read it. I haven't picked it up since, but next time I need a book to kill time I'll pick it up again, starting where I left off. That's the nice part of reading a book where you know what is going to happen, I can pick it up after a month absence and be up to speed within a few paragraphs.

Then the first time I stepped on a battlefield I was hooked on that aspect of the Civil War too. I knew I had to see more battlefields. On that first trip I'm sure I drove my parents crazy with my comments about how this county highway is most likely on the same path as the road I know from 1862. I have been disappointed with some books over the years but I don't think I've ever been disappointed with a battlefield. Of sure, there are some that are too small, or do not do a good interpretation job of what they do have, but the ground is still there to walk and learn from.

2010 Symposium

I know it seems early to be announcing the next Rocky Mountain Civil War symposium but its another great panel and I don't think I can keep it to myself for another month.

Our theme in 2010 will be US Grant, the working title is "Grant Moves South", borrowing a title from Bruce Catton.

Legendary Grant scholar Brooks Simpson will provide our overview of General Grant. One of my earliest Grant books was Simpson's fabulous "Let Us Have Peace: Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction." Simpson has also done a wonderful Grant biography.

Wiley Sword will do a presentation on Grant at Shiloh. I don't agree with everything Sword wrote in "Shiloh: Bloody April" but there is no mistaking that it is a wonderful book. Sword has also written quite extensively on the Western theater.

The other western battle we choose to explore in Grant's rise to prominence is Vicksburg, which I think is a bit overlooked. John Marszalek will do this presentation. Marszalek is probably better known as a Sherman historian than a Grant one but he is also the head of the Papers of Grant project so he knows a thing or two about Grant.

Peter Cozzens will do a bit to bridge our understanding of Grant in the two theaters with a look at the relationship between Grant and Rawlins. Cozzens has done mostly Western theater stuff but his newest book is on Stonewall's Valley campaign and is very good.

Rounding out the panel and taking Grant to the Eastern theater is Gordon Rhea. Rhea's series of books on the 1864 Overland Campaign are all fantastic. I knew after the first book that I didn't need to read reviews of the next volume, I'd just buy it when it came out.

So mark your calendars now for October 1 & 2, 2010. Its going to be another wonderful time. Better yet, buy a ticket for the October 2 & 3, 2009 symposium and you'll be sure to get plenty of reminders about 2010 from us during the coming year.

Civil War News: Round Table Review

Last night my mail included the September issue of Civil War News. As a book reviewer for them I'm always excited to see the new issue. Yesterday though I knew that the Round Table Review column by Matthew Borowick would focus on the Rocky Mountain Civil War Round Table. Its a great story, a very large one too. We're on page 10.

The column focuses on our annual study group, which is a great project we do. I'm always excited for the next study. We haven't decided what is next and I'm already excited to do that study and make the field trip. Last time I missed the field trip, the first time we've been doing it that I missed the trip.

Borowick also included a section on the upcoming symposium, which was nice of him to include since it was outside of the main focus of his article.