About the Book
Alan T. Nolan is one of our most esteemed historians of the Civil War. His classic history The Iron Brigade was chosen as one of the "100 best books ever written on the Civil War" by Civil War Times Illustrated. His articles have appeared in such publications as The American Historical Review, Gettysburg Magazine, Civil War, Civil War Times Illustrated, Indiana Magazine of History, and Virginia Magazine of History and Biography and he has been awarded the Nevins-Freeman award by the Chicago Civil War Round Table. Nolan is not the typical Civil-War historian. That he is a top-notch historian, no one can deny. But his legal training at Harvard, his career in the law, and his many years as an officer of the Indiana Historical Society have given him remarkable insights not imaginable by other historians. This new collection of previously published material celebrates Nolan's life-long research and study of the Civil War. Included are essays on the Iron Brigade, Gettysburg, and leaders such as Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, John Gibbon, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Central to all of the essays is Nolan's admiration for the valor of the common soldier and his conviction that the War was neither romantic nor glorious, though its results—emancipation and the maintenance of the Union—were surely monumental.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 List of Illustrations
Chapter 2 Preface
Part 3 Leaders
Chapter 4 Lawyer Lincoln—Myth and Fact
Harvard Law School Bulletin, Nov. 1964
Chapter 5 General Lee—A Different View
The Color Bearers, American Blue & Grey Association, 1995
Chapter 6 The Price of Honor: R.E. Lee and the Question of Confederate Surrender
Virginia Cavalcade, Vol. 41, No. 3, Winter 1992, and Vol. 41, No. 4, Spring 1992. Originally in Lee Considered, University of North Carolina Press, 1991
Chapter 7 Confederate Leadership at Fredericksburg
The Fredericksburg Campaign, University of North Carolina Press, 1995
Chapter 8 Iron Brigade General: John Gibbon
Iron Brigade General: John Gibbon, A Rebel in Blue, Greenwood Press, 1993
Chapter 9 Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War, University of North Carolina Press, 1992
Chapter 10 Considering Lee Considered: Robert E. Lee and the Lost Cause
New Perspectives on the Civil War, Madison House Publishers, Inc., 1998
Chapter 11 Historians' Perspectives on Lee
Columbiad, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1999
Chapter 12 Ex Parte Milligan: A Curb of Executive and Military Power
We The People, Indiana Historical Society, 1987
Part 13 Gettysburg
Chapter 14 Three Flags at Gettysburg
Gettysburg Magazine, Issue 1, July 1989
Chapter 15 Reynolds of Gettysburg
"For God's Sake, Forward!," Farnsworth House, 1995
Chapter 16 R.E. Lee and July 1 at Gettysburg
First Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership, Kent State University Press, 1992
Chapter 17 In the Bloody Railroad Cut at Gettysburg
In the Bloody Railroad Cut at Gettysburg, Morningside House, 1990
Part 18 The Iron Brigade
Chapter 19 Virginia's Unwelcome Visitors
Virginia Country Magazine, Vol. 4, 1967
Chapter 20 Rufus Dawes' Service with the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1962
Chapter 21 History of the Sauk County Riflemen
Butternut Press, 1984
Chapter 22 Giants in Tall Black Hats
Civil War Times, vol. 3, No. 8, 1961
Chapter 23 Brave Men's Tears: The Iron Brigade at Brawner Farm
Brave Men's Tears: The Iron Brigade at Brawner Farm, Morningside House, 1988
Chapter 24 John Brawner's Damage Claim
Giants in Their Tall Black Hats, Indiana University Press, 1998
Part 25 Selected Reviews
Chapter 26 Generals McClellan and Hancock
Pennsylvania History, Vol. 57, No. 2, 1990
Chapter 27 Generals Lee and Jackson
American Historical Review, Vol. 98, No. 2, April 1993
Chapter 28 Atlanta, Pea Ridge, and Chickamauga
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 89, No. 4, 1993
Chapter 29 Tennessee's War
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 62, No. 3, 1966
Chapter 30 Old Abe the War Eagle
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 83, No. 1, 1987
Chapter 31 Why the Confederacy Lost
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 101, No. 4, 1993
Chapter 32 Lee and Grant: A Dual Biography
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 86, No. 2, 1985
Chapter 33 Commanders of the Army of the Potomac
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 59, No. 2, 1963
Chapter 34 Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend
The Washington Times, March 8, 1997
Chapter 35 War in Kentucky
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 91, No. 4, 1995
Chapter 36 Indiana in the War of the Rebellion
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol, 57, No. 4, 1961
Chapter 37 The North Fights the Civil War
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 90, No. 4, 1994
Chapter 38 A. Lincoln, Prairie Lawyer
Stanford Law Review, Vol. 13, 1961
Chapter 39 Lincoln as a Lawyer
Indiana Law Journal, Indiana University School of Law, Vol. 38, No. 4, 1943
Chapter 40 The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln
Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 93, No. 2, 1995
Chapter 41 Black Troops, White Commanders, and Freedmen During the Civil War
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 88, No. 4, 1992
Chapter 42 The Confederate Tide Rising
Columbiad, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1998
Chapter 43 General Robert F. Hoke: Lee's Modest Warrior
The Washington Times, August 24, 1996
Chapter 44 Battle Cry of Freedom
Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 85, No. 4, 1989
Chapter 45 Acknowledgments
Chapter 46 Index
About the Author :
Alan T. Nolan is a lawyer in Indianapolis, an Honorary Trustee of the Indiana Historical Society, a Fellow of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and member of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table. His Civil War books include The Iron Brigade and Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History. With Sharon Vipond, he edited Giants in Their Tall Black Hats: Essays on the Iron Brigade. Several years ago in honor of its fiftieth anniversary, the Milwaukee Civil War Round Table, the second oldest round table in the country, created a new award called the "Alan T. Nolan Lifetime Achievement Award." The first recipient, obviously, was Alan T. Nolan.
Review :
Alan T. Nolan's Civil War scholarship is always thoughtful and insightful and often times brilliant.
Alan T. Nolan has been a major presence in the field of Civil War history since the publication of his classic treatment of the Iron Brigade in 1961. He has produced a body of writings notable for their range, clarity of argument, and determination to challenge romantic conceptions of the conflict. This collection shows Nolan at his best in questioning the iconic status of Robert E. Lee, assessing other military leaders, extending his pioneering study of the Iron Brigade, and evaluating the work of fellow historians. It represents a most welcome addition to the roster of Civil War books.
