Joan E. Cashin

This book was not what I expected. I read this book for a graduate class on the Civil War and everyone seemed surprised by this book. Each chapter was written by a different author, which was fine, but the interests and subjects were all over the map. We expected the book to be about civilians (as the title suggests) but about half of the chapters covered military subjects.

I did enjoy several of the chapters; the last section on the border states was the best in my opinion. It seemed the most cohesive and detailed. Several chapters were biographic in nature, dealing with various personalities of the era. The first chapter on soundscapes raised an interesting topic in regards to how sound or lack of sound can effect people; however I don't think that a lack of bells in the South was a major factor in their losing the war.

In conclusion, if you are interested in some random trivia on the Civil War than this book might interest you. If you are interested in reading biographic chapters on interesting female's of the period than the book could give you a couple of examples. From my course list of 12 books this one ranks towards the bottom; just because of it's apparent lack of cohesion and order. If you are interested in the border states the last section of the book could be useful.… (mehr)