Thomas F. (hardtack) -
Like the other reviewer (femmefan), I found the title of this book misleading. Except for the Forward and Chapter 1 (only four pages), the Sultana is not mentioned until page 168 in this 283 page book.
The copy I read was an uncorrected proof that I picked up in a used book store and not from PBS. While I saw a few spelling errors, the only major error I caught was George Thomas described as a brigadier general commanding sixty-eight thousand men, when he was actually a major general at that time.
So, while not a major work on the Sultana, I still liked the book. It was loaded with information on several Union soldiers and their experiences, as well as those of some Confederate civilians, especially concerning a prison camp in Alabama. If you are well read on the American Civil War, then you will also treasure these details. Most Civil War "nuts" are very much into details that are often missing from the more popular Civil War literature.
I am not sure why the author spent an entire chapter describing the tendency of humans to fight or run when confronted with danger, such as combat, unless he assumed that it affected the actions of many in the boat when the Sultana exploded. That being said, some of the early chapters are confusing and the author seemed to jump all over the place, leaving the reader lost.
For example, I was reading another book at the same time, which was about U.S. Marines fighting in Iraq. I picked up "Sultana," without looking at the cover, and started reading the chapter on the prison camp in Alabama. After reading two paragraphs, I had to stop and ask myself, what the hell a Civil War prison camp in Alabama had to do with the Marines in Iraq. This was because many of the early chapters in "Sultana" are not related to the Sultana at all.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the book for the reason I gave above.
The copy I read was an uncorrected proof that I picked up in a used book store and not from PBS. While I saw a few spelling errors, the only major error I caught was George Thomas described as a brigadier general commanding sixty-eight thousand men, when he was actually a major general at that time.
So, while not a major work on the Sultana, I still liked the book. It was loaded with information on several Union soldiers and their experiences, as well as those of some Confederate civilians, especially concerning a prison camp in Alabama. If you are well read on the American Civil War, then you will also treasure these details. Most Civil War "nuts" are very much into details that are often missing from the more popular Civil War literature.
I am not sure why the author spent an entire chapter describing the tendency of humans to fight or run when confronted with danger, such as combat, unless he assumed that it affected the actions of many in the boat when the Sultana exploded. That being said, some of the early chapters are confusing and the author seemed to jump all over the place, leaving the reader lost.
For example, I was reading another book at the same time, which was about U.S. Marines fighting in Iraq. I picked up "Sultana," without looking at the cover, and started reading the chapter on the prison camp in Alabama. After reading two paragraphs, I had to stop and ask myself, what the hell a Civil War prison camp in Alabama had to do with the Marines in Iraq. This was because many of the early chapters in "Sultana" are not related to the Sultana at all.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the book for the reason I gave above.
