Synopses & Reviews
Review
Virginia at War provides a valuable entry into the world at war beyond the battlefield. Would that we could have such collections for every state in the former Confederacy.
Review
"Like its predecessor, this latest volume in the Virginia at War series is a wonderful contribution to the understanding of the effects of the Civil War on Virginia and Virginians. It is not a true military history, and readers who are interested in `nuts and bolts' war studies will be sorely disappointed. Yet it is a work of War and Society, and the editors have put together a masterful team who have created a superb book that should be a lasting contribution to the Civil War studies far into the future."
Review
The essays, which tend to take a reasonable "Southern" view of the events, are well written and of considerable value for anyone interested in the war as a whole, not merely for the events in Virginia.
Review
"Like its predecessor, this latest volume in the Virginia at War series is a wonderful contribution to the understanding of the effects of the Civil War on Virginia and Virginians. It is not a true military history, and readers who are interested in `nuts and bolts' war studies will be sorely disappointed. Yet it is a work of War and Society, and the editors have put together a masterful team who have created a superb book that should be a lasting contribution to the Civil War studies far into the future."
(Ryan S. Walters, The American Graduate)
Review
This compilation assembles a good look into what was happening in Virginia during a particular year of the Civil War.
Review
This book is highly recommended to Civil War enthusiasts especially interested in Virginia.
Synopsis
As the Civil War entered its first full calendar year for the Old Dominion, Virginians began to experience the full ramifications of the conflict. Their expectations for the coming year did not prepare them for what was about to happen; in 1862 the war became earnest and real, and the state became then and thereafter the major battleground of the war in the East. Virginia emerged from the year 1861 in much the same state of uncertainty and confusion as the rest of the Confederacy. While the North was known to be rebuilding its army, no one could be sure if the northern people and government were willing to continue the war. The landscape and the people of Virginia were a part of the battlefield. Virginia at War, 1862 demonstrates how no aspect of life in the Commonwealth escaped the war's impact. The collection of essays examines topics as diverse as daily civilian life and the effects of military occupation, the massive influx of tens of thousands of wounded and sick into Richmond, and the wartime expansion of Virginia's industrial base, the largest in the Confederacy. Out on the field, Robert E. Lee's army was devastated by the Battle of Antietam, and Lee strove to rebuild the army with recruits from the interior of the state. Many Virginians, however, were far behind the front lines. A growing illustrated press brought the war into the homes of civilians and allowed them to see what was happening in their state and in the larger war beyond their borders. To round out this volume, indefatigable Richmond diarist Judith McGuire continues her day-by-day reflections on life during wartime. The second in a five-volume series examining each year of the war, Virginia at War, 1862 illuminates the happenings on both homefront and battlefield in the state that served as the crucible of America's greatest internal conflict.