Book Review: Curiosities of the Civil War by Webb Garrison

Okay, so Curiosities of the Civil War is definitely a cool-beans book for the Civil War buff in your life. I am NOT a Civil War buff… and I still found it interesting. The stories about Abe Lincoln’s impromptu “how tall are you” competitions and the numerous stories of women who secretly participated in the war grabbed my attention the most. I don’t know if I would have picked it up had I not been reviewing it for Book Sneeze (see disclosure below), but I am glad I did!

The book is full of short snippets and longer summaries of interesting and somewhat strange war stories. I was afraid it was going to be a long diatribe written from one side of the war or another. However, this didn’t seem to be written with any agenda OTHER than to share the stories that have otherwise fallen through the cracks of history.

Garrison has changed my attitude toward investigating this era of history. His style of writing easily kept my attention. Even though a few of the stories weren’t as much of a “curiosity” as I’d hoped, I can definitely see this as a great resource. I recommend this to anyone and everyone looking for a deeper look into this very important part of US history.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the
publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review
bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I
have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal
Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html>
: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in
Advertising.”