Book Description

Excerpted from a review by Richard A. Sauers in the 12/91 issue of CIVIL WAR HISTORY, published by Kent State University Press: Today, there are more than 150 Civil War Round Tables in this country, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Belgium, & Norway. All Round Table organizations owe their existence to "The Civil War Round Table," the brainchild of Chicago bookseller Ralph Newman & some of his friends...Fifty years later this group is still going strong. A large part of the book is anecdotal & personal history, but Hughett transcends the usual such works & has produced a first-rate history of an important social & cultural organization. Fifty years ago, there were no Round Tables. Today it is hard to imagine the Civil War scene without them. Many Civil War scholars have been discovered by Round Tables, which nurtured & encouraged them. The discerning reader of this tome will find everything about The Round Table worth knowing. (T)his book (is) an important contribution to Civil War cultural history. Years from now, when future scholars want to know what twentieth-century Americans did to memorialize the Civil War, they will turn first to Hughett's book. Order from: Morningside Book Shop, 260 Oak Street, Dayton, OH 45410, 1-800-648-9710. $30 plus $2.50 for postage.