The weather in your part of the world may be warm or cool, but here in the northern hemisphere, this is the time to begin thinking about how you are going to spend your winter days and evenings. I plan to invest time in organizing my genealogical collection, input some data that has been in my to-do file, review some people I’ve been putting off, develop new hypotheses to research, follow up on them, and learn more about the historical and geographical contexts of my ancestors and their families.

I’m also a voracious reader and enjoy histories and historical fiction developed from strongly researched facts. I’m always on the lookout for books I haven’t read that add to my understanding of history and how it may have impacted my ancestors’ lives. During the winter months I always have two or three books going at once, and perhaps you do the same thing.

In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, I have a few books to recommend to you for your own winter reading list. You may want to start shopping now for good deals for purchasing them. However, I am certain that you’ll find these books interesting.

1776
No, this is not the script for the old Broadway musical! Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough has written an exciting book titled 1776. Mr. McCullough has written an exciting and detailed book about the real history of the military conflicts between the colonial forces led by George Washington and his British counterparts during the first full year of the American Revolution. He has done extensive research in both American and British archives to obtain official military reports, correspondence between the principals, and detailed verbatim accounts by ordinary soldiers.

This is not the historical American history overview you learned in school. Both the American and British perspectives are presented and you will find that the Americans’ cause almost faltered in the first year of the revolution. As one friend put it when we discussed the book at the Federation of Genealogists Conference in Salt Lake City, “This is one of the best books I’ve ever read on the subject of the first year of the American Revolution. The only sad thing is that David McCullough has no plans to write books on the subsequent years.” Perhaps McCullough will change his mind because this book will change your perspective of the historical context of the year 1776.

The Widow of the South
War is perhaps the greatest catalyst of change in human life. Not only are soldiers wounded and killed, but the lives of all the citizens in the vicinity of the battles are inevitably changed. Physically, emotionally, economically, socially, and in many other ways, life is never quite the same.

Robert Hicks has written a tremendously moving book, titled The Widow of the South, that you will be unable to put down. The story takes place in Franklin, Tennessee, beginning on 30 November 1864, the day of what has been called "the bloodiest hours of the American Civil War." The Battle of Franklin resulted in an estimated 2,500 Union casualties and 7,000 Confederate casualties.

Mr. Hicks has researched the details of the battle and has penned a brilliant account of that day in history. However, he also has brought to life the story of John and Caroline (Carrie) McGavock and their family whose home, Carnton, was appropriated as a Confederate hospital. Hundreds of wounded, dying, and dead soldiers were brought or stumbled there for treatment. Carrie and her slave/friend Mariah Reddick nursed the soldiers, worked with the doctors, offered comfort to their patients, wrote letters home for many, and dealt with death and destruction all around them. Carrie develops a special relationship with one particular soldier, Zachariah Cashwell. Her relationships with her husband, children, Mariah, Zachariah, and others transform her as she never thought possible.

In this true story, Carrie decided that the hundreds of Confederate soldiers who fell on and were buried on the battlefield should have a proper burial place. In the spring of 1866, the McGavock family donated two acres adjacent to the family cemetery near their home. With the help of other Franklin residents, the bodies were disinterred, identified, and moved to a dedicated cemetery on those two acres. Carrie maintained a ledger with the name and burial location of each soldier, and she decided that her fate was to insure that these men would be honored and remembered. She became their primary mourner for the remainder of her life, hence the title of the book.

The novel is based on meticulously detailed research by Mr. Hicks and tells the story of the battle, the soldiers, the town, the residents of Carnton, and of the effects of the war in that area. The changes to the area and the people in The Widow of the South will enlighten your understanding of your ancestors in both the North and South and the impact of the war on their lives. The book is a great read and, like Lalita Tademy’s Cane River, cannot help but change you.

Fenian Fire
Queen Victoria was undoubtedly one of the greatest historical figures of the 19th century. She ruled the expanding British Empire from her ascension to the throne in 1837 until her death in 1901. However, history was almost changed on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 1887. On that day, a plot was under way to assassinate Queen Victoria. The so-called “Jubilee Plot” was actually the brainstorm of the Prime Minister of the British government, Lord Salisbury.

Christy Campbell’s book, Fenian Fire: The British Government Plot to Assassinate Queen Victoria, is an astounding piece based on an historical fact that you probably never knew. Ms. Campbell has also done her historical research homework to portray the relationship between Britain and Ireland, and has detailed the plot’s participants and motives in order to produce an historically accurate account of this potentially global politic-changing event. While Queen Victoria was the target of the plot, the real target of the conspiracy was the cause of Irish Home Rule.

This book is another eye-opener of an era of British and Irish history. Nothing on the subject was included in Lytton Stratchey’s definitive biography of Queen Victoria. Fenian Fire will change your perspective of the Victorian Era and its global influence.

Enlightenment!
We all need great reading distractions to keep us enlightened. I think that these three books, in addition to your other personal choices, will enrich your understanding of three important historical periods and the events that shaped them. Now is the time to start building (or adding to) that stack of must-read books for your winter reading. I hope you’ll enjoy these choices.

Happy Reading!
George

Bibliography

• Campbell, Christy. Fenian Fire: The British Government Plot to Assassinate Queen Victoria. London: Harper Collins. 2002. (softcover)
• Hicks, Robert. The Widow of the South. New York: Warner Books. 2005.
• McCullough, David. 1776. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2005.
• Stratchey, Lytton. Queen Victoria. Orlando: Harvest Books. 2002. (softcover)
• Tademy, Lalita. Cane River. New York: Warner Books. 2002. (softcover)

Visit George’s website at for information about speaking engagements. Upcoming appearances:

• 9 October 2005
  Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay (Clearwater, Florida)
• 19 October 2005
  Marion County Genealogical Society (Ocala, Florida)
• 29 October 2005
  Charlotte County Genealogical Society (Port Charlotte, Florida)
• 10 November 2005
  Halifax Genealogical Society (Ormond Beach, Florida)
• 11-12 November 2005
  Vero Beach Book Festival (Vero Beach, Florida)

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