"Defeating Lee: A History of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac," and "Voices of Civil War America: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life," two books penned by Dr. Lawrence Kreiser, assistant professor of history at Stillman College, will be published this summer.
Kreiser's interest in Civil War history was inherited from his grandfather, William Eichenberg. His grandfather read dozens of books a year on the Civil War, and readily discussed them. Pictures of Grant and Lee and other Civil War Generals sat on his fireplace mantle. Kreiser grew up with the Civil War, and has always been interested in the subject.
"Defeating Lee" was developed from Kreiser's dissertation. The writing and research continued until The Indiana University Press accepted the manuscript for publication in January 2010. Since then, signing the contract, tightening the writing, double-checking the footnotes and bibliography, and selecting images to accompany the text has almost been continuous. "It's made for a lot of early mornings and pots of coffee," he said.
The publication of "Defeating Lee" is one of Kreiser's most gratifying professional experiences. "I hope to work on other projects and to publish other books, but the experience of working with a university press is a dream come true," he said.
"It has been a blast! Reading soldiers' letters-and they discussed all sorts of topics, from why they fought to what the experience of battle was like; and from what they ate to what was the latest news and gossip from home and family-is as much of a window into the past as we in the modern-day are going to achieve. It's almost as if, 150 years from now, historians had access to our emails, Facebook page, and diary," he continued.
Kreiser co-authored "Voice of Civil War America" which will be published by Greenwood Press. During the penning of both books, Kreiser took the opportunity to dig deeply into soldiers' letters, diaries, and memoirs. His most gratifying experience was reading the primary sources that took him to battlefields, libraries, historical societies, and other repositories located in the Midwest, Northeast, and Upper South. "It's something that I've always wanted to do."
Kreiser previously served as co-author of another book covering the Civil War Era, entitled "The Civil War and Reconstruction" (2003), a volume in Greenwood Press's American Popular Culture Through History series.
Kreiser is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and holds several degrees in history. He received a bachelor's degree from Virginia Military Institute in 1991, a master's degree from Bowling Green State University in 1993 and a doctorate from the University of Alabama in 2001. After teaching at Lawson State Community College and at the University of Alabama, he came to Stillman in the fall of 2004 where he presently teaches upper-level courses in American history and world history.
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Wednesday, March 2nd 2011 at 3:03PM
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