Westholme's Role in Civil War Book Publishing

By Bruce H. Franklin · Originally published November 2017 · p. 38

I was kindly invited by the Civil War News books editor, Steve Davis, to briefly discuss the role of Westholme in Civil War book publishing. After working at two university presses, I founded Westholme Publishing from scratch in 2004 with a goal of providing well-written and researched nonfiction books for the general reader. I have a particular interest in narrative history, so that made identifying an editorial program simple; the challenge was to find suitable manuscripts to publish. One solution to building a list is to commission books. One of my earliest commissions was accomplished by Joseph G. Bilby—a name quite familiar in Civil War circles. His volume, A Revolution in Arms: A History of the Repeating Rifle (among my favorites, a true tour de force), not only was very well received by readers and praised by reviewers, it began a string of Westholme books on Civil War topics. I could not have predicted, though, that in 2006, a young first-time author would inquire whether he could send me a manuscript called “Stealing the General.” My first reaction was that it might be the story of some obscure general, most likely Confederate; I already had received and turned down many proposals for regimental histories, stories of relatives in the war, officers who merited greater acclaim, bundles of letters, and alternative histories of the war. Upon reading the raw manuscript I understood it to be a history of the Andrews raid—the Great Locomotive Chase. Even I, who did not yet have commanding knowledge of the full ebb and flow of the Civil War, the insand-outs, the controversies, the battles in chronological order, had heard of this tale. What was even a greater surprise was just how well written it was. It was captivating, a true page-turner, and a volume that could stand against any great narrative history. Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor by Russell S. Bonds became a notable success, with accolades from national media, including Publishers Weekly, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, as well as magazines and journals devoted to the Civil War. Having enjoyed the process, we followed up with what turned out to be according to the Mobile Press-Register, “one of the finest Civil War books in years,” and one of Civil War Interactive’s top fifty Civil War books of all time, War Like the Thunderbolt: The Battle and Burning of Atlanta. While Russ was working on the manuscript, we found out that a major trade press was, of all things, also planning to publish a book on the same subject. No trade histories on Atlanta for years and all of a sudden two! We then learned there was a third in the works! Knowing that if we did not get our book out at the same time as the others, we would be scooped and all of Russ’s hard work might go for naught. We buckled down, and with Russ working at a feverish pace, we were able to move up our publication date to meet the competition. I am glad we did. Despite being a David publisher against a Goliath, Russ’s volume ended up being the best of the three. Another Westholme Civil War title of note is To Raise Up a Nation: John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and the Making of a Free Country by William S. King. When I received this manuscript, I was struck by both its literary quality and command of hundreds of sources. King, too, was a first-time author, and like Russ Bonds, he was an accomplished stylist. The book is one of the best single-volume histories of the war, not from a battle and nuts and bolts perspective, but because it eloquently explains why the war was fought in the first place. To Raise Up a Nation was selected as the North Jersey Civil War Round Table’s Book of the Year, and honored by the university library review, Choice, as an “Outstanding Academic Title” in history. I told William that I bet he is the only commercial truck driver ever so honored. A recent title that bears inclusion as a way to describe the role of Westholme Publishing in Civil War studies is Southern Reconstruction by Philip Leigh.

Phil is also an author who published his first book with Westholme. Southern Reconstruction is a thought-provoking and fresh account of the long and difficult history of the postwar effect of the Civil War on our country. Readers may know Phil through his Lee’s Lost Dispatch and Confederacy at Flood Tide, both of which revisit subjects that bear a second look or new interpretation, and Southern Reconstruction is no exception. He begins by asking the simple question, “Why was there a Gilded Age in the North at the same time both whites and blacks in the South were ravaged by poverty?” I hope readers find our books stimulating and enjoyable, and appreciate discovering new voices in our ongoing fascination with the Civil War. Bruce Hampton Franklin founded Westholme Publishing after having worked at both the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania presses. His books in military history have been finalists and winners of a number of distinguished writing awards and have also been optioned to major film studios, including Focus Features and Morgan Freeman’s Revelations Pictures. He can be contacted by email at [email protected] or mailing address Westholme Publishing, 904 Edgewood Road, Yardley, PA 19067.