ThisMightyScourge Interview

Earlier this evening I had the pleasure of being interviewed by my good friend, Mike Noirot, for his blog ThisMightyScourge. The focus was the new book by me and Steve Stanley, The Complete Gettysburg Guide, and it was an honor to be able to discuss the book with Mike. A month or so ago, when Mike offered to interview me for his very popular blog, I sent him electronic files of the book (since we didn't have any hard copies yet) to give him a chance to see it.

Mike's digitally-reproduced interviews are a very popular feature of his blog. Visitors to the site are able to hear these interviews, and because their presentation is much more personal and candid than a text-only interview, I believe readers will enjoy them very much. Mike is actually breaking ground with these interviews - the only similar presentation, for instance, are venues such as Civil War Talk Radio (on which I appeared a couple years ago). In these interviews, you get to hear authors and historians talk personally about their projects, and I predict that Mike's readership will grow enormously as these interviews become more and more popular.

I first met Mike a couple years ago in Gettysburg, through a mutual friend, Duane Siskey. Mike is a very dedicated student of the Civil War and history, and our interview discussion shows that he is a very well read Gettysburg scholar. He asked me really terrific questions about the book, and it was enjoyable talking about how the project began, and how co-author Steve Stanley and I worked through the process of making the book the way it is in its final form. And as I told Mike at the end of the interview, the first time I see someone using the book out on the Gettysburg battlefield, my heart will skip a beat and I'll know that all of our effort was more than worth it.

Mike expects to have the interview up on his blog by Monday, June 1. Please check it out and I hope listeners enjoy it as much as I did. It will give you a lot of background information and behind-the-scenes stuff about the book, and Steve and I are very grateful for Mike's support and appreciation for it. I was humbled when he said he couldn't wait to get back out on the battlefield with the book, and that's the nicest compliment that anyone can receive. Steve and I did this book for everyone from the newest visitor to the most informed student of Gettysburg, and we hope that everyone enjoys and learns from it.

Mike, thank you again for the interview and the great discussion!

Second edition of The Complete Gettysburg Guide ordered!

Steve Stanley and I, as well as our publisher Savas Beatie LLC, are proud and humbled to announce that a second edition of The Complete Gettysburg Guide has just been ordered - and the first edition isn't expected to arrive from the printer for another couple of weeks. Pre-release sales and activity has made it obvious that the first edition would barely last beyond release - and for that we are all very grateful to everyone who has ordered the book and expressed interest in it! The first edition print run was itself rather sizable, but it has become necessary to order a second run that can be shipped early in June to fulfill demand.

So if anyone who has not yet ordered the book wishes to have a first edition - and at the risk of sounding like I'm only shilling books - please do order very soon. Those that have already ordered (or order very quickly) from our book website, or Savas Beatie's site, are guaranteed a first edition of the book (the Special Editions available only on our site are comprised of only first editions obviously). However, if you wait much longer to order we may run out of first editions to fill regular orders. If you've ordered from online sites and storefronts, you should get a first edition. But again, if you wait a few weeks or wait to see it on a store shelf later on, you likely may not see a first edition. (Okay, shilling over!)

Steve and I had a small supply of the books pulled and sent to us directly from the printer (at rather great cost per book) so that we would have them for the Civil War Preservation Trust Conference in Gettysburg next week. We'll have those until we run out at the Conference book sale on Thursday June 4. But we won't have any more until a couple weeks later when the distributor receives them, and we'll begin shipping out our website orders. We expect all orderers to have their copy by June 15 if not a bit sooner.

Gettysburg trip(s)

My apologies to my readers for not posting in a while, but I've been taking a long-deserved break of sorts and doing lots of family stuff lately. I realized recently that I've been writing constantly for about the past four years - three books, several articles, and several other projects - and felt it was time to take a little break. Over the holiday weekend, Karen and I took our daughter out in the boat and we did a lot of fishing - and actually caught fish! It was a relaxing time, and I also got quite a number of projects done around the house that have been waiting much of those four years. I still have several more projects to complete, and have promised myself that I'm going to do them this summer in spite of the fact that I'm starting the next book in late July (a very exciting project with Steve Stanley - more to come about this!).

This Sunday afternoon, I'm driving to Gettysburg to meet up again with my publisher Ted Savas (see his post about his travels this weekend), and to also meet Savas Beatie marketing director Sarah Keeney. We're going to do a little battlefield trekking, and also meet with several distributors. I have to come back home late Monday night, spend Tuesday and Wednesday morning in the office, then drive back to Gettysburg in the afternoon to attend the Civil War Preservation Conference. At the CWPT's Wyndham Hotel HQ on Thursday, Steve and I will have a book signing for our new The Complete Gettysburg Guide. My other books will also be available in addition to several other Savas Beatie titles. I'm very much looking forward to seeing old friends there, as well as making many new ones.
Steve and I have a bunch of book signings scheduled through June and July, and soon I will post the schedule here as well as on the new book's website. I always enjoy them very much - there's nothing I like better than interacting with folks about the books, and hearing their comments and criticisms. Feedback is very, very important to me. I hope to see many of my friends on the fields very soon!

GettysburgDaily.com Presentation Sept. 20

I'm very excited to have been asked by the folks of the fabulous GettysburgDaily website to do a presentation for the site this September 20. That day, I will be meeting Bobby Housch to do a taping of tours of the battles of Hunterstown (July 2), Fairfield (July 3) and - if there is time - South Cavalry Field (July 3 - Merritt and Farnsworth).

I've been addicted to the website for some time now. It features very interesting photographic studies of what is going on with the field and town, historic battle and town studies, and video tours by rangers, Guides, and historians. I'm honored to have been asked to participate based on the tours and narratives of the new book I've done with Steve Stanley, The Complete Gettysburg Guide. The taping is a ways off due to the fact that Bobby is literally booked up with presentations through the summer, but I thought I'd give everyone a heads up. Steve Stanley will also be along, and we will likely have some of Steve's maps from the book up on the site. Steve has mapped for the very first time, for instance, the opening skirmishes of the fights at Hunterstown and Fairfield, in addition to the several maps of the battles. He's also done the most accurate and detailed maps of Merritt's skirmish and Farnsworth's Charge on South Cavalry Field ever done. You can only find these in the book.

I'd say I hope they shoot me from my best side, but too many folks I know are likely to comment that it would mean you wouldn't see my face....

"Sickles at Gettysburg" - Jim Hessler's must-have biography of Ol' Dan

There has been a lot of buzz lately about Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Jim Hessler's upcoming (June 2009) biography of Dan Sickles - Sickles at Gettysburg: The Controversial Civil War General who Committed Murder, Abandoned Little Round Top, and Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg. Published by Savas Beatie LLC, this much-anticipated book will be, in my opinion, the seminal work on Sickles at Gettysburg as well as the must-have military biography of the general. Love him or hate him, Sickles is a pivotal figure of the battle, and much has been written about his role on July 2. Jim has presented a very thoughtful, reasoned, balanced, and extremely well-documented treatise of Sickles' controversial participation on the Union left during the second day of battle, as well as his influence on the rest of the Gettysburg Campaign, not to mention Sickles' infinitely interesting post-battle life and career.

I have read the other published biographies, as well as more material on Sickles' Gettysburg role than I care to remember. Jim's book will place all of the extant material in perspective, and I believe will drive much of the opinions to come. Jim has no agenda or axe to grind with his book - he simply presents (in more detail than I've ever seen) all of the facts and circumstances that led to Sickles' controversial move of his 3rd Federal Corps forward from the Cemetery Ridge line on July 2. And the biographical details that Jim provides convinced me that previous to this book, I knew much less about the general than I thought I did.

The July 2009 issue of America's Civil War magazine also contains an article on Sickles at Gettysburg by Jim, based on his book. It's on newsstands now - check out the article for a taste of what is in the book, and don't miss the discussion of the "Sickles Chomping on a Cigar" battlefield story.

I must also compliment publisher Ted Savas and his design folks for the beauty of the cover of this book. It is wonderfully done. Last night, Jim forwarded an electronic image of the full cover of the book, and I was very impressed. Savas is well known for having the best book covers in the business (they have done a beautiful job with all of mine) and this one is gorgeous.

Congratulations to Jim on giving us what will be the standard Sickles work, and an infinitely interesting read that everyone will thoroughly enjoy.

Civil War Preservation Trust online bookstore

I'm quite honored that the Civil War Preservation Trust's 2009 Annual Conference in Gettysburg's "Recommended Reading List" features all three of my books. The Complete Gettysburg Guide (with Steve Stanley), Plenty of Blame To Go Around (with Eric Wittenberg), and One Continuous Fight (with Eric and Michael Nugent) are all on the list.

As an aside, I'm also excited to hear that Mike will be a guest on Civil War Talk Radio later this month. Mike, a policeman in Maine and retired Army (armored cavalry) officer, should provide an extremely entertaining interview! I was on CWTR a couple of years ago and enjoyed it very much. Congratulations, Mike, and I will put up more details about your interview shortly.

"Hallowed Ground" article

Those you who do not receive the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) magazine Hallowed Ground can still view the article mentioned in the previous post that is based on the new book The Complete Gettysburg Guide. Click HERE to read the article, and see Steve Stanley's maps and photographs that also appear in the book.

The article is based on the chapter in our book about the June 26, 1863 skirmishes near Gettysburg at Marsh Creek and the Witmer Farm (Bayly's Hill). The book chapter goes into much more detail and also contains driving/walking tours of the areas.

Civil War Preservation Trust Conference, Gettysburg June 4-7, 2009

This year, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) will hold its annual conference in Gettysburg on the above dates. I and Steve Stanley will be there providing and signing copies of our new book The Complete Gettysburg Guide. That weekend, we will have 100 of the only copies of the new book available then, which will not go to retailers and the distributors until the following week. Steve, who creates the beautiful maps for the CWPT, has nearly 70 new, original maps in the book as well as over two dozen of his battlefield photographs. Steve and I are donating 10% of the proceeds of all sales to the CWPT for battlefield preservation.

I am also honored and humbled to have been asked to write the Gettysburg Campaign summary that will appear in this year's Conference booklet. Two dozen of Steve's maps will accompany the piece. Much of it is done and I need to complete it this weekend. Steve does a beautiful job with the Conference booklet, which in and of itself is always quite a collector's item.

One more CWPT-related item: those of you who are members, please watch for your new issue of the Trust's magazine, Hallowed Ground. The new issue, which should be in everyone's hands very soon, will feature an article by me and Steve on the June 26, 1863 skirmishes near Gettysburg that precipitated the battle. As Gen. Jubal Early's Division passed through Gettysburg toward the Susquehanna on that date, his cavalry escort (the 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry commanded by Lt. Col. Elijah White and the 17th Virginia Cavalry under Col. William French) clashed with Pennsylvania militia cavalry and infantry west and north of Gettysburg. Dubbed the Marsh Creek Skirmish and the Witmer Farm (or Bayly's Hill) Skirmish by those of us who have studied these actions, these little scraps are interesting sidelights to the main battle. The Hallowed Ground article is based on the chapter in our book that gives both a detailed narrative and tours of both actions.

Steve and I have many other signing events lined up this summer - including events at the Gettysburg Visitor Center bookstore, bookstores around town, and Sacred Trust and other events during the anniversary. Once we have them nailed down I will post them here.

We hope to see many of our friends at these events and on the field this summer!

"Complete Gettysburg Guide" Special Edition bookplate

This is an image of the bookplate, specially designed and created by Steve Stanley, that will appear in only the Special Signed and Numbered Gettysburg Limited Edition of The Complete Gettysburg Guide. Each is numbered 1 through 100, and will be personally signed across the face of the plate in red ink by both me and Steve. Each will be signed on the battlefield, and once the 100 are sold, there will be no more. They are only available for reservation on our website (on the Order page, click on the Special Edition version). Numbers are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, and since many are already spoken for, please get your order in soon if you would like one of these collector editions. The quicker you order, the lower your number will be. They are not (and will not) be available anywhere else online or through any retailers.

So if you'd like one, please hurry! We will specially pack and ship these Special Editions the second week of June.

Pre-orders for Scott Mingus' new book

Folks, for those interested in the exploits of the venerable Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign (and who ain't? :) Scott Mingus' upcoming book on the subject, published by LSU Press and available in October, is on Amazon now for pre-orders. Wonderfully written and deeply resourced, this book should be in the hands of every Gettysburg student and student of the war. Click on the link above to go to the Amazon page.

Additionally, I recently finished reading another of Scott's latest, Gettysburg Glimpses: True Stories From the Battlefield. Similar in format and content as his "Human Interest Stories" series, this terrific little volume is packed with vignettes from the Gettysburg Campaign that will make you smile, laugh, ponder, and perhaps want to cry. Not only is it great leisure reading about one of our favorite subjects, but it is also sure to provide some great sources that I suspect will show up in some future works (probably including mine!).

My buddy Scott, York County PA's first Licensed Tour Guide and fellow Gettysburg enthusiast, is doing darn fine work. Check these and Scott's other available titles and you are sure to be pleased.