Review for crappy history book: Wonderful, unreadable, or overall tepid?
Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy: Guerilla Warfare in the West, 1861-1865 by Richard S. Brownlee (Louisiana State University Press, reprint 1984. Pp 274. $19.95.)
This book could well be considered timeless in nature. Now, at a cursory glance, one would assume this to be a compliment. Don’t kid yourself, as it is not. When I say timeless, I mean that while reading it time ceases to exist. Minutes felt like eons, moments like decades. The only reason I was able to finish this book was because I woke up at four a.m. and needed a way to fall back asleep.
Of course, I’m being hypercritical. While not an entertaining read by any means, it is quite an interesting read. Keep in mind these are two very different things. Gray Ghosts delves deep into the causes, consequences, and reverberations of guerilla warfare along the Missouri-Kansas border before, during, and after the Civil War. Also highly detailed is the military, both Union and Confederate’s, attempts to limit or destroy such warfare.
Gray Ghosts attempts to write a completely factual account of the events surrounding the frontier war, and for the most part, succeeds. Only occasionally does opinion or speculation slip through, although the entire book is laced with a sharp and sometimes caustic wit, as well as a very wry sense of irony and humor. The entire tone of the tome leads me to believe that Mr. Brownlee would do better with a richer subject matter that was more open to the previously mentioned characteristics of his writing.
Focusing mainly on such subjects as Bill Quantrill, “Bloody” Bill Anderson, and George Todd, Gray Ghosts is also a wealth of information about such characters as Sterling Price, Frank and Jesse James, Coleman Younger, and Archie Clement. The text also dips into such subjects as Lincoln’s reactions towards the frontier war, and James Lane’s corruption and cowardice. Another nice addition to the book is small maps of the Union Military districts present in Missouri during the Civil War, with a larger map of Missouri in the front and back covers, as well as sparse photographs of the ‘hated’ leaders of the guerilla war.
As given in example above, this book speaks at length about the Union’s attempts to stop such insurrection and disloyalty. It is shown in Gray Ghosts that the majority of the Union’s attempts actually worsened the situation by creating hardship for the populace they were attempting to ‘protect’, as well as placing hated Kansas within Missouri borders. The book also details how quite often the standing army in the area was more corrupt and destructive than the guerilla force they were trying to quell.
Gray Ghosts also speaks of the Confederacy’s attempts to distance themselves from Quantrill and Anderson’s actions while at the same time supporting and encouraging the two leaders.
Said book holds such chapters as “Sterling Price’s Guerillas” (ch. 2), “William Quantrill’s Guerillas” (ch. 4) and “Lawrence is Destroyed” (ch. 7). These chapters, while by no means something to peruse while taking a bubble bath, are all in all a rather easy read. Some chapters, though, are quite impenetrable, and require caffeine, patience, and physical force to finish.
While I can’t say I’d be willing to lay down $19.95 for my own copy, if the subject interests you, it’s worth a visit to the local library to peruse through, perhaps whilst counting sheep.
Well, there you have it. How would YOU grade it?
–Tim
). I took your advice and cleaned it up a bit.