Blood & Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest BY DONALD S. FRAZIER TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS, 376 PAGES, $14.75 – In 1860 when the Confederacy attempted to become an independent, slaveholding republic with dreams of imperial expansion, they were following… Continue Reading
Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South BY KERI LEIGH MERRITT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 372 PAGES, $24.55 – Keri Leigh Merritt’s work, Masterless Men, is a fascinating and long overdue examination of the difficult relationship between Southern… Continue Reading
This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy BY MATTHEW KARP HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 368 PAGES, $26.95 – The Antebellum South has traditionally been portrayed as regressive and sectional, defensively focused on preserving slavery in the… Continue Reading
A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico BY AMY S. GREENBERG VINTAGE, 370 PAGES, $8.88 – Few of America’s foreign wars have been as controversial in their own time as the U.S.-Mexican War. The… Continue Reading
“With a soldier the flag is paramount . . . I know the struggle with my conscience during the Mexican War. I have never altogether forgiven myself for going into that. I had very strong opinions on the subject.… Continue Reading
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War BY JEFFREY ROGERS HUMMEL OPEN COURT, 448 PAGES, $29.95 – States’ rights and secession haven’t always been synonymous with the South. In fact, in the lead up to the… Continue Reading