A Time Life Bonanza

A magnificent collection to add to the ACW and 19th Century American West section of my library.  This acquisition has certainly solved one problem but has raised a couple of others chief of which is my gaming Schwerpunkt going forwards….

Huzzah! I have finally managed to get my hands on a complete 28 volume set of the Time Life series on the American Civil War! These are not usually that difficult to come by but given the overall weight of the collection are quite often listed as buyer collects only - not really very useful if located hundreds of miles away! Luckily on this occasion it was a swift twenty minute car drive and so I set off after dinner yesterday evening to collect it. Once again it came about as the result of the owner passing away (in this case a year or so ago) which did give me pause for thought about the arrangements for my own collection when I eventually go to that great wargaming convention in the sky - the wargamer’s Valhalla if you like. At the risk of being morbid I have made provision in this respect via my will which I would strongly recommend doing if you haven’t already.

Anyways, the collection comprises 28 volumes as mentioned and these are as follows:

Forward To Richmond - McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign

The Shenandoah in Flames - The Valley Campaign of 1864

Rebels Resurgent - Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville

The Blockade - Runners and Raiders

Brother Against Brother - The War Begins

War On The Frontier - The Trans-Mississippi West

Pursuit To Appomattox - The Last Battles

First Blood - Fort Sumter to Bull Run

War On The Mississippi - Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign

The Fight For Chattanooga - Chickamauga to Missionary Ridge

Spies, Scouts And Raiders - Irregular Operations

Death In The Trenches - Grant at Petersburg

Battle For Atlanta - Sherman Moves East

The Coastal War - Chesapeake Bay to Rio Grande

Confederate Ordeal - The Southern Home Front

Decoying The Yanks - Jackson’s Valley Campaign

Gettysburg - Confederate High Tide

The Bloodiest Day - The Battle of Antietam

Tenting Tonight - The Soldier’s Life

The Road To Shiloh - Early Battles in the West

Twenty Million Yankees - The Northern Home Front

The Killing Ground - Wilderness to Cold Harbour

Lee Takes Command - From Seven Days to Second Bull Run

Shermans’s March - Atlanta to the Sea

The Struggle For Tennessee - Tupelo to Stones River

The Assassination - Death of a President

The Nation Reunited - War’s Aftermath

Master Index - An Illustrated Guide

I shall organise these volumes on a historical basis as far as possible - the list above is how they came out of the three boxes they were packed in. Of particular interest are the naval volumes (naturally!) but also anything Western theatre related. The writing style is easy to read and of course there are copious illustrations in support. Despite the overall size I would say this falls very much into the overview/general history category which suits my attention span for sure! One can always ‘drill down’ into a particular area of interest by the acquisition of more specialist material - as I have done with the naval side which is the largest section of my modest ACW library.

I am truly delighted to have acquired this set once again (a long and depressing story the first time around) and shall use to it extensively to reinforce my interest in the epic war between the states.