What's Hot, and What's Not, in the World of Civil War Books Today!

By Marc Ramsey and Roger Semplak · Originally published November 2017 · pp. 1–3

A while back, as we were packing up far too many unsold books from a Civil War show, in order to take them back to our shop in Richmond, my good friend Rusty came by and asked, “Why don’t you just bring the books that you’re going to sell?” Well, we chuckled a bit, finished packing up, and then left. But interestingly, those words have stuck with me; why don’t we just bring the books that are going to sell, instead of bringing mostly just the books that we think should sell. In other words, in spite of our own predilections, we should be more aware of what is Hot in the Civil War book market these days, and what is Not. Over the years, when buying books for our inventory, we have mostly let our hearts be our guide. Being devoted to Civil War and military literature, this was a system that worked fairly well; if we thought a book had merit, then it probably was a good choice for our monthly catalog, store inventory, internet, and mobile book selections. Alas, there is no denying that things have changed, that for a number of reasons the market is quite different now than in years past. So, in recent times, this reality has led to a number of interesting discussions between ourselves, other book dealers, authors, publishers, reviewers, and of course, our many good customers. We now fully understand that we must be more objective than sentimental when buying books for resale, and that we must keep an ever vigilant eye on market trends and what really is hot, and what is really not so hot, in the market at this time. So what is our guide? First and foremost we must consider categories, and the hot categories at this time seem to be Battles and Leaders, Memoirs, Biographies, and Unit Histories. Battles and Leaders – Campaign and battle studies will always have great appeal and be in great demand. When choosing books for a particular Civil War show or conference, it is a good idea for us to consider the

Owens & Ramsey Historical Booksellers, Richmond, VA / www.owensandramsey.com region where the venue is located, and bring books dealing with actions fought in that area. Of course there are exceptions, the epic battles such as Antietam, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga/Chattanooga, and a few others always seem to have universal appeal and books on those subjects and can be taken to any show. In addition, there are always good, new books entering the market place that people want to add to their libraries, like Eric Wittenberg and Scott Mingus’s 2016 offering titled The Second Battle of Winchester; The Confederate Victory that Opened the Doors to Gettysburg. Here is a detailed, well written, deeply researched, and strongly documented account of what many consider a secondary tier battle, most often only briefly covered in books dealing with the Gettysburg Campaign, but, in this book, it has finally been given the coverage that it deserves. One major battle which continues to be of great interest is Antietam, with the three volume set edited by Thomas Clemens selling well, the most recent part being

The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Volume III: The Battle of Shepherdstown and the End of the Campaign, publishing the writings of Erza Carman. In 2012, Scott Hartwig published a very popular first of a planned two volume work titled To Antietam Creek; The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, which, if the second volume fulfills the promise and expectations associated after reading the initial offering, will definitely be a book to add to one’s collection. In the arena of Leaders, books abound, but we do need to exercise a bit of caution. When going to a show in either Georgia or the Carolinas, bringing a large selection of books on William T. Sherman, for instance, may cause problems. Memories are long, and his memory is far from cherished. A large stock of Sherman books would probably be non-productive or unprofitable and could potentially drive off future customers regardless of how well the book is written and researched. On the other hand at Midwestern shows from the areas where the Northern

Armies of the Tennessee, Ohio, and the Cumberland drew troops, books on General Sherman would probably have no problem selling. The second category we consider is Memoirs. Here it generally breaks down into two different groups, those written by veterans that were published in the period from about 1870 through 1910 and those edited and published later. Some samples which are considered classics are Military Memoirs of a Confederate; a Critical Narrative by E.P. Alexander originally published in 1907 and the 1989 edition by Gary W. Gallagher, Fighting for the Confederacy; The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander. Here is an example where the original was published for the reading public whereas the second publication is long on material initially intended for the sole reading of his family. We are indebted to Dr. Gallagher for saving and bringing to light much of the unpublished material of the original 1,200 page manuscript, thereby providing historians and Civil War readers with greater insight into many senior command decisions within the Army of Northern Virginia. In a similar vein, the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, originally published in 1885 and still being re-published, is a wonderful read to gain insights into the actions and thoughts of this great Union general. At the other end of the reading spectrum, and therefore a poor selling opportunity, would be Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major General Benjamin F. Butler, which has been aptly referred to as a large and ponderous “apologia” of Butler’s actions which, due to its defensive nature, reduces the book’s value to the reading public and probably accounts for its rather low selling price even when found as a leather-bound first edition in excellent condition.

A final memoir before we leave this area of book selections and (if we didn’t mention it) would cause one of these co-authors to have conniptions, is Sam R. Watkins, Co. AYTCH; Maury Grays First Tennessee Regiment or A Side Show of the Big Show, which is still in publication and an enjoyable narrative (if somewhat exaggerated for its rare sense of humor), but it is still a very good seller. As with the category of Battles and Leaders, Memoirs tend to enjoy brisk sales when they are well written or edited, and when they address a broad area such as successful generals, individuals who made interesting observations that enhance understanding, or they contribute new insight into a particular operation or campaign. Biographies are another area that has a strong buying audience. Unlike memoirs, these generally are written after the fact and tend to be a collection of massive amounts of information gleaned from many different primary sources. A prime example for this category and one that still sells well is the four volume Douglas Southall Freeman work, R.E. Lee, both because of the topic and the fact that the author was a superb and compelling writer. Rod Andrew Jr.’s Wade Hampton; Confederate Warrior to Southern Redeemer, does an excellent job in covering the life and accomplishments of this fascinating South Carolinian, as does Jeffery D. Wert for General James Longstreet in his 1993 book by the same title, subtitled The Confederacy’s Most Controversial Soldier. On the Union side some really good biographies that continue to be popular are Edward Longacre’s General John Buford; A Military Biography, David Jordan’s Winfield Scott Hancock; A Soldier’s Life, Brooks Simpson’s Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity, 1822-1865, and James Hessler’s Sickles at Gettysburg. As with all the other categories, what makes these books valuable is that each author has done an excellent job researching and documenting their work and all have a writing style that makes the topic or subject come to life, and most importantly for these humble booksellers, they still sell very well. The last category that we pay close attention to is Unit Histories. This is an area that has a tendency to actually not attract the general reading public but more those who focus on specific areas or regions. As mentioned in our June Gettysburg article, all have their strengths and weaknesses, and the reader needs to be aware of them. Early unit histories written by veterans are somewhat limited in scope and operational perspective because they focused on what these individuals experienced. Later works sometimes expanded this frame of reference due to exposure to other books and articles that appeared and thereby provided some additional insight to the operational campaigns being covered. Older unit histories also offer some unique insight; for example in Benjamin Jones’ 1909 unit remembrance titled Under the Stars and Bars: A History of the Surrey Light Artillery, where, at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, the members decided to go home before being formally paroled. Some arrived home within a week while others arrived as long as three months later. The late arrivals happened to have run into Federal forces and, without a formal parole, they ended up as prisoners for a short period which extended their journey home. Little nuggets such as these make older unit histories a joy to read because you never know when you will run across one of these little known anecdotes. More recent unit histories, generally based on one or more primary source documents, benefit from the interjection of additional information by the editor inserted to both explain what the primary sources are referring to and to place these observations in context with the larger activities of which the unit was a part, however unaware of, at the time the original observers were writing. A second group interested in unit histories is those who had relatives who fought with a particular unit or units. This group is especially interested in unit histories that included a detailed roster of members; everyone loves to see G.G. Granddaddy’s name in print. Sometimes, however, this does become a doubled edged sword when the relative’s service record is less than stellar. We once located a regimental history for a family who had always believed that their ancestor had been a hero who rode with JEB Stuart. In the roster, he was listed as having deserted just before First Manassas and never returned. Needless to say, they didn’t buy the book.

A third group very interested in regiments are individuals who have a specific state or region in which they are interested and will be looking for anything published on that state. The H.E. Howard series of Virginia unit histories still has a strong following and the books sell well at our store and at any east coast show due to their strong ties to the Army of Northern Virginia. This can also be said for most well-crafted publications of both Northern and Southern unit histories, such as the Broadfoot series on South Carolina regiments. As with all the other categories previously discussed, the quality of the author’s writing, research, and subject matter are major factors in why some volumes are initially hot sellers and tend to remain so over time. So what is Not Hot? One area to consider is the niche markets of interest that can have strong followings and do sell books, but not nearly as well as the previous categories. Probably the strongest niche market is for reference books, especially at some shows more focused on artifacts and dug relics. For conferences, the knowledge of the topic covered and the prospective audience plays a major part in how many and which volumes should be included for the event. For example, books dealing with the women who experienced the war and their perspectives might be a theme. This area includes such great books as A Diary from Dixie by Mary Boykin Chesnut or A Diary with Reminiscences of the War and Refugee Life …, by Mrs. Cornella McDonald. For a more recent look at women impacted by the war you have Caroline Janney’s excellent Burying the Dead but not the Past: Ladies’ Memorial Associations, and Lisa Frank’s The Civilian War: Confederate Women and Union Soldiers during Sherman’s March. Other niche markets are books dealing with prisoners of war both North and South, naval activities, both formal and informal, from blockading and blockade running to privateers, and political figures. There are also limited markets for areas such as intelligence/spying, medical and nursing, logistics, railroads, both from an operational and maintenance perspective, military tactics, historical fiction, etc. What all these have in common is that well written and well documented books have a following and will sell in modest quantities, but those that aren’t so readable have a tendency to find themselves on discount tables in short order, often with few takers. What else is Not Hot? One guide we can offer is a reading of the many catalogs put out by publishers, especially the university presses. They are full of books on class, gender, race, oppression, exploitation, revisionism, etc. Who buys these books? Maybe students of the author-professors, but they are definitely not big sellers in the current Civil War book market, to say the least, and this from hard experience of trying. So where do we find the best-selling, or hottest books, in these various categories right now. Well no doubt about it, New Books are chalking up the best sales figures these days. We used to simply sell used and rare, along with a few new titles, but no longer; today, new books represent the lion’s share of sales in the Civil War book market. For our buying, and for the reader, being able to find a good, critical, and objective book review on new material is a great ally to have, especially in your particular area of interest. Please pay close attention to Steve Davis and his excellent Critic’s Corner in this newspaper, as well as other reviews by authors and historians for new titles, good and perhaps not so good, as valuable guides as to what’s hot, and maybe not so hot in the world of publishing at this time. Some of the best publishers for our interests these days are Savas Beatie, (an especial pleasure to deal with), which has about 125 active Civil War titles. They also have more than 50 books in development on various Civil War topics; about 5-10 of those are expected to release during the remaining months of this year. Mercer University Press has a good number of new and high quality Civil War books on very interesting subjects and personalities in print, as does Louisiana State University Press which has just come out with Volume Five of Gordon Rhea’s magnificent campaign study on the 1864 Overland Campaign, and we predict it will be the hottest book of the year. University of North Carolina Press, which publishes many excellent works by Earl J. Hess, continues to be a rich resource for new material, as does the University of Tennessee Press, and several others that still publish notable Civil War studies. The Emerging Civil War series, published by Savas Beatie and edited by Chris Mackowski, is also an especially hot and popular growing batch of books right now. Brand new, signed, first editions will always be among the hottest books available at any given time in the Civil War book market. So what else is Hot? high end, antiquarian, Confederate, and Union memoirs, biographies, and unit histories, in Fine Condition still sell very well, and, at the same time, paradoxically, cheap books. Whenever we have a sale table going, say ten bucks each, buy five and get one free, we usually ignite a fire and sell copious amounts of books in all kinds of condition. It seems that these days, more than ever before, people are shopping for bargain basement prices. In closing, what all of us book dealers at shows or conferences hope for is to go home with fewer books than when we arrived. We have said many times, at least half seriously, that if someone were to come along and buy our entire event inventory, we would throw in our truck for free, with at least a half a tank of gas. This would then allow us to do the thing that we love doing almost as much as selling books, and that is to buy many more books. So the hunt continues, for that rare and out of print volume in somebody’s library, just waiting to be found again and brought back into the light, or for a totally new book, often by a new author, on a new subject, that is just hoping to be found and enjoyed by a totally new reader. Cheers!