At Long Last, Carman's Maryland Campaign to be Published

Ezra A. Carman's legendary 1890's unpublished manuscript on the 1862 Maryland Campaign is about to be published for the first time ever. According to Civil War Librarian, the book will run over 400,000 words and will be produced in a larger trim size in order to accommodate the volume of text. A September release by the UK's Routledge Publishers is now planned.

Armchair generals should note that the work will NOT contain maps. The Librarian writes that this "may sound odd for a work of this type, but there is an explanation. At the time Carman was compiling this massive history of the campaign, he was also working on a complete Atlas of the battle, covering the entire action in 14 large plates (the same size as the maps in the OR Atlas). Unlike his history, Carman's Atlas was published by the U.S. government (in 1904, with a second edition in 1908), though it's now long out of print and very difficult to find outside of major research libraries." The maps will be available online, however.

The book is not inexpensive. The list price will be a whopping $95, so expect a VERY limited first edition print run aimed primarily at the library market. Collectors take note.

This will be a strategic and tactical history not to be missed. It should be on all ACW students' bookshelves, assuming that the price is not an obstacle. According to Ted Alexander, Chief Historian at the Antietam National Battlefield, "The Ezra Carman manuscript is the definitive study of that bloody September day in 1862. By editing it, Joseph Pierro has done a tremendous service to the field of Civil War studies. Indeed, this work is one of the most important Civil War publications to come out in decades."