The Civil War in 50 objects

Through narratives on pieces from the collections of the New-York Historical Society (N-YHS), of which he is a fellow, Holzer (Lincoln at Cooper Union) suggests that history is the sum of evidence-based stories. Out of an enormous number of Civil War-related pieces at the N-YHS, Holzer's selections include a slave's shackles; a Union soldier's diary; a model of the ironclad USS Monitor; Lincoln's scribbled musings on his reelection chances; a carbon copy of General Grant's handwritten terms of surrender presented to General Lee; and a Confederate POW newspaper. As a whole, the book demonstrates the educational role of museums and the invaluable contributions made by their seasoned interpreters. Meredith Brown's Touching America's History is a similar treatment, but focuses on family heirlooms, while Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects used the British Museum's holdings as its basis. VERDICT This illustrated presentation can be used by both onsite and would-be visitors and may inspire others to conduct similar research. It will be a popular choice for museum curators and docents as well as history enthusiasts, especially during the Civil War's sesquicentennial. [Smithsonian Civil War: Inside the National Collection (Oct. 2013) will show Civil War history through 150 objects in its collections.-Ed.]-Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Lib. of Congress, Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A modern dean of Civil War studies offers an illuminating account of the conflict as reflected in material culture. Holzer (Lincoln on War, 2011, etc.), working through the archives of the New-York (always with the hyphen) Historical Society, unearths treasures, if sometimes grim ones. The first, for instance, is a set of manacles made for a child slave, which serves to establish the incontestable fact that, at least for the North, the war was "somehow about slavery," as Lincoln said; it also affords Holzer the opportunity to relate that, well after the war ended, some former slaveholders still treated their former property as bonded to them. He closes the book with a copy of the Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery in the United States--which, Holzer pointedly notes, was not ratified in Mississippi until 1995. Elsewhere, the author writes of Northern vexillomania--i.e., the passionate embrace of the Union flag in public demonstrations in New York and other cities following the fall of Fort Sumter. He also notes that "not every New Yorker volunteered to fight for the Union, or even support the Union cause," and he follows with the tale of one who died in combat on April 14, 1865--which is to say, after the surrender at Appomattox. Holzer's choice of objects is spot-on, and the anecdotes they occasion are even more so, particularly when he turns to little-commemorated episodes such as the valiant charge of 14 New York dragoons against a much larger Confederate force (it did not end well for the dragoons) and the effect of the Union blockade on school primers in the South. A valuable addition to the popular literature of the Civil War, well-conceived and packaged.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.