Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Book Review: A Deeper Look at the Confederate Soldier

"Faces of the Confederacy is an indispensable new window on the Civil War and the society that fought it," writes Dr. John L.S. Daley in a review of my book that has just appeared in the Civil War Book Review by the Louisiana State University Libraries' Special Collections.

Daley, an associate professor of history and chair of the Department of History at Pittsburg State University in southeastern Kansas, mentioned a number of details that other reviewers passed by, including this opening line: "Consciously taking cues from Thomas Macaulay and Thomas Carlyle, Ronald S. Coddington has presented history as a sum of individual experiences in this collection of seventy-seven short biographies of Confederate soldiers..."

Daley compares the book to Bell J. Wiley's classic, The Life of Johnny Reb (1962), and adds a paragraph that accurately reflects my research: "The Internet and Interlibrary Loan have allowed Coddington to tread where Wiley and other predecessors could not. While awaiting responses to his Civil War Message Board Portal and GenForum.com queries, he mined Ancestry.com, digitized Library of Congress records and pension files in state archives. On-site research in the Library of Congress and National Archives turned up service records, as did the Southern Historical Society Papers, newspapers and regimental histories. Even with internet help, it took him an average of two months to piece together each life.

I am particularly pleased with this review. You can read the complete version on my web site, or view the original on the Civil War Book Review.

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Friday, September 04, 2009

Setting Deadlines

One word to describe the first nine months of this book project is discovery: Locating images, securing rights and permissions, searching for primary sources, finding resources, reading articles and books on the African American war experience, sorting lists and databases. In short, getting started on the manuscript journey, traveling down unfamiliar paths, finding some dead ends, but other paths that lead to other paths and roadways.

I have a long way to go yet. However, the roads are starting to feel familiar. For the first time since last year, I have a sense of how long it will take to get there. My estimates:
By the end of 2009
75 images secured
10 profiles researched and written

By the end of 2010
95 images secured
60 profiles researched and written

By June 2011
Manuscript complete

Fall 2012
Book published
It will be interesting to find out how accurate my estimates compare to reality. Time will tell. This may seem like a fruitless exercise to some, but it helps me to know that a plan of sorts is formed.

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Manassas Museum Memories

Just back from a speaking engagement and Faces of the Confederacy book signing at the Manassas Museum. Memories:
  • Store Manager Jane Riley's efficiency. She made the event go off without a hitch and brought in a respectable crowd! I owe her a debt of gratitude.
  • Ethel's excellent feedback: She appreciated my new introduction — The Photo Generation — and purchased the lone copy of Faces of the Civil War, the Union counterpart.
  • Charlotte and Patty's late arrival: They missed the presentation due to traffic, and generously purchased copies of the book.

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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Speaking and Book Signing at Manassas Museum

This Saturday, Aug. 15, I'll be at the Manassas Museum speaking about Faces of the Confederacy: An Album of Southern Soldiers and Their Stories. Afterwards, I will sign copies of the book. My presentation includes profiles of several Virginians featured in Faces, including the soldier on the cover, Sgt. William Crawford Smith of the Twelfth Virginia Infantry. Also included is a statistical survey of soldiers from my database of 200 Civil War veterans.

This event is part of the Civil War Trails Old Town Walking Tour. Led by guides in period clothes, the tour is focused on the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), fought on Aug. 28–30, 1862. This year marks the 147th anniversary of the Confederate victory. The tour begins at 10 a.m. Cost: $10/person. For more information about this tour contact the Manassas Museum at 703-368-1873.

The museum is located at 9101 Prince William St., Manassas, VA 20110-5615.

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Thursday, June 18, 2009

New Confederate Faces Review

The Faces of the Confederacy review by C.D. Myers of McClatchy-Tribune News Service begins with the story of Capt. Jesse Cunningham McNeill, the soldier who transforms from petulant subordinate officer to daring raider responsible for the capture of a pair of federal generals.

It is fitting that Myers led with McNeill's story, for it exemplifies the many untold and largely forgotten stories of the Civil War period.

Myers adds:
This exceptional companion edition to Coddington's 2004 book, "Faces of the Civil War: An Album of Union Soldiers and Their Stories," reconstructs the lives of 77 Confederate soldiers below the rank of colonel, through engaging narratives complemented by rare carte-de-visite (CDV) portrait photographs.
This review has been widely published online, including the Kansas City Star and The (Columbia, S.C.) State.

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Saturday, May 09, 2009

Book Signing at New Market

Thanks to sutler Nick Sekela, I will be signing copies of my books at the The Battle of New Market Reenactment. I'll be set up in the bookstore tent, adjacent to sutler's row, on Saturday, May 16, from 10-3, and Sunday, May 17, from 10-2. I am informed that this year's event will be especially impressive, due in part to the cancellation of the Spotsylvania reenactment.

Hope to meet you there!

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Thursday, April 30, 2009

MI Publishes Confederate Faces Review

Military Images publisher David Neville reviewed Faces of the Confederacy in the latest issue of the magazine (May/June 2008). This excerpt captures the essence of his words:

"These stories are not the often told ones of famous Confederate leaders like General Lee, Stonewall Jackson, or J.E.B. Stuart, but of enlisted men and lower ranking officers, whose life stories deserve to be heard by this generation of American history and Civil War readers."

The complete comments are available in the Confederate Reviews section of my web site.

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Friday, April 17, 2009

Civil War Times Review

The June 2009 issue of Civil War Times Magazine includes a review of Faces of the Confederacy. Of particular interest is Jack Trammell's focus on the importance of the soldier cartes de visite, which is unusual, as most reviewers emphasize the stories of the volunteers. The review concludes with Trammell recognizing the combination of photographs and stories:

"Coddington's book reminds us that the face of war never really changes, and that conflict never comes at a convenient moment for anyone."

Thanks to my friend Alan Rudolph, who alerted me to the review's publication in CWT.

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

ACRL Reviews Confederate Faces

George Eberhart of the Association of College & Research Libraries recently reviewed Confederate Faces. He writes:

"Faces of the Confederacy: An Album of Southern Soldiers and Their Stories, by Ronald S. Coddington (320 pages, December 2008), brings to life the fragmented backgrounds of 82 Confederate soldiers pictured on cartes de visite of the 1860s. Coddington has hit upon a unique and fascinating niche in the seemingly endless march of Civil War books. This one is a sequel to his Faces of the Civil War (2004), which matched the images of ordinary Union privates, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains with brief memoirs of their war experiences. With Southern veterans the documentary trail is much harder to pick up, making the author's biographical vignettes all the more extraordinary. The earnestness, defiance, and desperation on the faces of these men resonates with a modern audience, once their stories are known."

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Getting the Word Out


One of the lessons learned from Michael Fellman's How to Write a Book Proposal is that authors who stay involved with their book after it is published typically have greater success. In truth, I don't really need this lesson, as my intense interest in the soldiers and their portrait photographs is more than enough motivation. However, Fellman's message is a helpful reminder. Over the last few week, I've kept active by redesigning the web site, including a new media and marketing section, and sending out emails to the many individuals who helped along the way. Today, I finalized the design for a post card (pictured here), which will be mailed to various people, book stores, and other organizations. The cards will be produced through GotPrint.com.

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thanks

Yesterday I mailed complimentary copies of Confederate Faces to individuals who played critical roles in the book's development. I struggled to find the correct words to express my gratitude for the generosity and support of so many people. I inscribed title pages with various phrases including "with deep appreciation," "profound thanks," and other expressions. These words are fitting and proper, and pay tribute to their contributions.

The key word is generosity. So many people gave freely of their time and expertise. I am indebted to them all. And, as I wrote words of thanks in each book, was awestruck by the genuine goodness of so many, not on my behalf, but for the preservation and memory of the millions of men, North and South, who went to war during our nation's greatest crisis.

"The history of the Civil War is the stories of its soldiers," I write in the introduction to this volume, and I thank each and every one of the individuals here today who helped to tell those stories.

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Confederate Book Jacket Arrives


Senior Manuscript Editor Anne Whitmore sent me several jackets for Confederate Faces with a note that really brightened my day: "When these were sitting in my in-box, everyone who walked by stopped and said, 'Wow.' It's just as handsome, arresting, and haunting as the jacket for the Union volume — a tough standard to meet."

I salute the design team for coming through again! I am delighted with it. I took one of the jackets and wrapped it around a copy of Union Faces for this picture.

FYI: The rest of the book is due at the end of November.

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Wednesday, August 06, 2008

The Joy of Indexing

Writing the index is perhaps the single most thankless task involved in writing a book, but is all-important. A well-organized index is a helpful guide and handy reference to persons, places and things. A poorly-organized index, or no index at all (gasp!), has caused me on more than one occasion to groan audibly — unless Google Books has digitized it.

Having been exposed to countless indexes during the course of my research, I determined to arrange the index for Confederate Faces in a simple, direct manner. In short, it breaks down into five categories: Names of people, Geographic locations, military operations (skirmishes, raids, battles, and campaigns), military facilities (forts, prisons), and troops (by state).

I wrote the bulk of the index in one very long day. (Once I got into a rhythm, my impulse was to keep going with it.) This was Monday. Then, I spent about two hours yesterday tweaking the organization and double-checking my work, and dedicated a little time this morning to a final review.

The index is the last hands on writing I'll do for this book.

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Monday, July 28, 2008

Proofreading Deadline Met

It is with more than a little relief that I sit here looking at the securely packaged box that contains the edited proof of Confederate Faces. Proofreading is one of the most tedious parts of the publishing process for me, as it requires my full focus and undivided attention.

My proofreading method involves a comfortable (but not too comfortable) chair, a strong light source, and a glass of water. Then, I read aloud (hence the water), word for word, syllable by syllable, pronouncing each phonetically, mindful of spelling and punctuation and content and accuracy.

When I find an error, I leave the chair and go to a table set up in another room. On this table are the rest of my materials, including a duplicate copy of the proofs and a blue pencil. I grab the blue pencil and make my marks using typesetter symbols — ital to indicate italics, l.c. to denote lower case, etc.

Then, back to the chair and on to the next revision. I consumed many hours by this process: 281 pages plus the foreword, preface and introduction at about four minutes per page (yes, I timed it!). I managed two full rounds of editing, finishing late last night.

Anne managed to read through a sizeable portion, and it helped to know that someone I trust was reading behind me (and it didn’t hurt that she really enjoyed the stories, including one that brought her to tears).

I initially titled this post “Proofreading Completed.” But, considering that I’m not sure proofreading is ever completed, as one can read through over and over again, I decided on the “Proofreading Deadline Met” as it accurately reflects that I read as much as I could until the time came to send it in.

BTW, I didn't bother to proof this post.

Next: Writing the Index.

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