Book Updates

Time for some further updating on several book projects.

Ted Savas told me today that my Monroe’s Crossroads book is at the printer. We inserted the last of the maps on Tuesday, so it’s been there for a couple of days. This means that in about a month, we will have books. This book is apparently being selected as an alternate book of the month for the History Book Club, although we’re waiting for final confirmation of this.

That the Monroe’s Crossroads book is now completely finished now means that Ted’s getting started on the book on Stuart’s Ride in the Gettysburg Campaign that I did with J. D. Petruzzi. This book is scheduled for release just before the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, at the end of June. Ted already has all of the maps and illustrations, and they’re all good to go, so there will be no hold-up on this one. Ted has agreed to allow us to add an extra appendix to the book, which is a partial driving of Stuart’s raid route, beginning and ending at Gettysburg. It covers Westminster, Hanover, Carlisle, Hunterstown, and, of course, the route of march along the way. JD and I are really proud of this book.

JD, Mike Nugent, and I did a volume on the retreat from Gettysburg for Ironclad’s Discovering Civil War America Series that was supposed to have been published last year, but it didn’t get done due to financial reasons. We’re expecting it to be published later this year. It includes a decently detailed tactical treatment of the fighting during the retreat–as contrasted to Kent Brown’s book, which focuses more on the logistics; they complement each other very nicely–as well as two driving tours, one that follows the Wagon Train of Wounded, and the other that follows the fighting that occurred during the retreat.

Finally, the maps for my new regimental history of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, which has been in the works for more than a decade, are under way. I am contracted with Westholme Publishing to publish it, and am to deliver it to them by June 30. Whether it will actually be published this year, I don’t know. If not this year, early next year for sure.

I’ve now signed a contract with Bison Books, a division of the University of Nebraska Press, for them to do a new edition of my book on the Battle of Trevilian Station, which has been out of print since early 2003. Bison has not yet given me a release date for the new edition, and I have a few revisions to make. We’re discussing adding a driving tour to the book, which would be a great addition. If Bison agrees, I will shoot the pictures this summer when I am helping to lead a tour for the Little Big Horn Associates annual convention, which is being held in Richmond this July.

It’s been nearly three years since my last book, The Union Cavalry Comes of Age: Hartwood Church to Brandy Station 1863, was published. Apparently, that drought is about to end, in a very big way. It’s possible that I could have four books released this year.

My worry is that somebody might say, “how can this hack turn out four books in a single year?” That is probably a legitimate question to ask. Most folks don’t know or appreciate the years of work that go into one of these books; I have more than a decade invested in the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry book. My research on the retreat from Gettysburg actually began before that. It’s not like I’m just churning stuff out without putting in the effort or doing my homework; a review of my bibliographies and endnotes ought to dispel that illusion. Nevertheless, I worry about people’s perceptions with as prolific as I seem to be. Yes, I work quickly, but at the same time, I hope that nobody can ever accuse me of not being thorough.

More updates to follow as I learn more……