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Post by alamonorth on Apr 22, 2008 15:38:14 GMT -5
Robert Johannsen's To the Halls of the Montezumas: the Mexican War in the American Imagination(1985) is a terrific study of the American character at the time of the Mexican war. This kind of book needs to be written about the Texas revolution.
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Post by Kevin Young on Mar 16, 2009 14:38:09 GMT -5
I agree with most of your list.
I've got the following in the pile to read:
Invading Mexico: America's Continental Dream and the Mexican War, 1846-1848 by Joseph Wheelan
The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 by Martin Dugard
A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and Its War with the United States by Timothy J. Henderson
Bruce Winders turned me on to a great series of articles that are medical reports from the war and a Mexican officers account of Angostura.
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Post by Kevin Young on Apr 17, 2009 11:15:31 GMT -5
Has anyone read "The Training Ground" yet? I just finished it and am interested in any comments.
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Post by Herb on Apr 17, 2009 11:42:58 GMT -5
Has anyone read "The Training Ground" yet? I just finished it and am interested in any comments. I'd be interested in your comments! I've hesitated to get it, because of the title. I'm not sure if I can explain it, but I'm not too sure I like the editorial idea of looking at the Mexican War through selctive Civil War personalities - seems to be a too narrow focus that would omit too much. Am I wrong?
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Post by Kevin Young on Apr 17, 2009 12:19:24 GMT -5
Well, you know that Paddy Griffith and Earl Hess suggest that it was not the training ground because it did not advance tactics; but the Future CW guys did get their first taste of things. It is strong on Grant and Lee, but does give a fair shake to Jackson, Meade, and others.
The book is surpisingly much more in depth than just the story of the future CW folks. It does give a pretty detailed accounting of things (but nothing like Splendid Little Army He does make some mistakes on things (repeats the old Sam Walker killed by a lancer story) and my biggest problem is the lack of real footnotes.
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Post by Herb on Apr 17, 2009 18:23:04 GMT -5
Thanks, there's another topic in that reply screaming to get out, I'll see if I can take a stab at it general history.
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Post by philkost on Dec 23, 2010 22:25:28 GMT -5
Just a little late here, but The Training Ground is a decent read, it is a very specific study but I would say it is a must read for those who are interested in the Civil War. As for my "must reads" for the US-Mexico War: So Far From God by John S.D. Eisenhower Dueling Eagles edited by Richard V. Francaviglia and Douglas W. Richmond A Perfect Gibraltar: The Battle for Monterrey, Mexico, 1846 by Christopher D. Dishman (This one just came out, but is an amazing book. I also point people to the US-Mexico War "shelf" at the US Army Center of Military History - www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/MexWar.html
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Post by TRK on Dec 24, 2010 8:43:33 GMT -5
A Perfect Gibraltar: The Battle for Monterrey, Mexico, 1846 by Christopher D. Dishman (This one just came out, but is an amazing book. A wrapped copy is under my Christmas tree A couple of other noteworthy Mexican War books have recently been published. Recollections of the War WIth Mexico is the memoir of Maj. John Corey Henshaw, edited by Gary Kurutz, and covers the early battles on the Rio Grande, the siege of Monterrey, and the Mexico City campaign. I've only had time to skim it, but there is some excellent descriptive matter in it. Beware, however, of the book's binding. The cover is actually cloth, not pressboard, but the binding is not sewn, but glued, and the first time I opened the book, there was a big separation in the binding at the title page. For the $45 list price and the relatively short page count (252), a glued binding is chintzy. press.umsystem.edu/spring2008/kurutz.htmAnother book, released just last month, is War with Mexico: America's Reporters Cover the Battlefront, by the late Tom Reilly. He specialized in Mexican War journalism and journalists, and it wasn't clear if and when this book would come out following his untimely passing, so it's indeed good news. www.kansaspress.ku.edu/reiwar.html
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Post by Kevin Young on Dec 26, 2010 15:02:11 GMT -5
Oh Boy! More for the list! I did get Mccllellan's Mexican War Letters for Christmas!
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Post by Jim Boylston on Dec 26, 2010 19:37:08 GMT -5
Among other things, I got the first volume of Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy for Christmas, which I've been meaning to read for years. Also got "Driven West," the new one about the Trail of Tears.
Jim
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Post by Kevin Young on Jan 12, 2011 18:25:27 GMT -5
While a little later than the Mexican War, I recieved a copy of Santiago Tafolla's memoirs. I first was given a translation of the back in 1998, and I am very happy these are now published. Tafolla was from Santa Fe-his father a Mexican officer-who ended up being orphaned, then goes up the Santa Fe Trail, works in DC, then joins up with the 2nd Cav to go "home." Spends a lot of time in the San Antonio area, later joins the Confederates, and then becomes a minister. Published under the title A Life of Crossing Borders.
The George B. McClellan Letters and Diary are pretty good. Lots of nice details.
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Post by gtj222 on Apr 16, 2012 13:52:08 GMT -5
I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Once you get used to his Bible like, Moby-Dick style of writing it is one hell of of read and baised on the true story of John Glanton who fought in the Texas war for independence and US. vs Mexico. He and his gang went on to become scalp hunters. The book is extremely bloody, but in spite of that I believe, if done right, would make a great movie. Wonderful read and very thought provoking.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Apr 16, 2012 14:51:12 GMT -5
I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Once you get used to his Bible like, Moby-Dick style of writing it is one hell of of read and baised on the true story of John Glanton who fought in the Texas war for independence and US. vs Mexico. He and his gang went on to become scalp hunters. The book is extremely bloody, but in spite of that I believe, if done right, would make a great movie. Wonderful read and very thought provoking. I've read "Blood Meridian" 2 or 3 times. It's one of those books that speak to the reader in different ways with each reading. For my money, it's McCarthy's masterpiece, and I've read a lot of his work. A film version has been talked about for ages and, I think, most recently Tommy Lee Jones had the movie rights (but I might be wrong about that). In my opinion, the film that comes closest to capturing the feel of "Meridian" is John Hillcoat's "The Proposition," starring Guy Pearce. If you haven't seen it, give it a look, but be prepared for some unsettling scenes akin to those in "Meridian." Jim
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Post by sloanrodgers on Apr 16, 2012 15:21:45 GMT -5
I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Once you get used to his Bible like, Moby-Dick style of writing it is one hell of of read and baised on the true story of John Glanton who fought in the Texas war for independence and US. vs Mexico. He and his gang went on to become scalp hunters. The book is extremely bloody, but in spite of that I believe, if done right, would make a great movie. Wonderful read and very thought provoking. I agree it's a great book, but I think the real life of John Glanton was much inflated in the years after his death. I've found no evidence that Glanton or his family were residing or fighting in Texas before or during the Revolution. He was still a bad dude that you didn't want to cross.
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Post by loucapitano on Apr 17, 2012 13:53:15 GMT -5
I can't add much to the Mexican War, but a few days ago I came across a copy of "Touched With Fire- Five Presidents and the Civil War Battles that Made Them," by James M. Perry (2003) It never dawned on me that except for Grant, presidents Hayes, Garfield, McKinley and Harrision were all Civil War veterans. (As was Oliver Wendell Holmes who contributed to the book's title.) Anyway, I can't put it down.
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