William E. Parrish

This account of the politics of Missouri during the War of the Rebellion largely omits military affairs in the state, but is nonetheless interesting in its own right. It is written in the wonderfully pellucid style which American historians perfected in the generations after World War II and have since largely lost. There are no tangents, few wasted words, and opinions are scarce. In fact, this is that rarest of birds, a book which could stand to be a little longer; I think there is something more to be said about the pro-Confederate rump government which was duly elected in 1860 and was soon enough forced into exile, and I think most readers would have appreciated a tad more military context. There is only one map and it's illegible, not a crucial impediment to a book which contains little military detail..… (mere)