Civil War Curiosities: Strange Stories, Oddities, Events, and Coincidences [Paperback]

Webb Garrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2000

This fascinating collection explores the unusual and often bizarre persons, attitudes, and events of the Civil War. Illustrated and indexed.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson; Reprint. edition (October 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155853315X
• ISBN-13: 978-1558533158
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Webb Garrison, formerly associate dean of Emory University and president of McKendree College, wrote more than 55 books, including Civil War Curiosities and Civil War Trivia and Fact Book. Before his death in 2000, Garrison lived in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Many cool facts, but a little slow reading at times, July 30, 2004

By 

J. E. Nelson (Plainfield, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Civil War Curiosities: Strange Stories, Oddities, Events, and Coincidences (Paperback)

One of the previous reviewers best described this book as a niche in the vast sea of Civil War literature available. This book is unique in that rather than focusing on the entire war, or a specific aspect of the war, this book floods the reader with a myriad of little known facts from numerous facets of the war.

The book is divided into 27 chapters. One of the nice aspects of the book is that each chapter is short enough so that they can be read in 15 minutes or under, thus giving the reader many opportunities to stop reading without stopping in the middle of the story. The chapters cover a plethora of topics including critters of the Civil War, the role of horses, stories of people before they were famous, the view of both sides regarding the use of Negro soldiers, and an amusing chapter on military officer appraisals. Some chapters I enjoyed immensely such as the chapters on new and outmoded weapons, how the abolition of slavery was not the North's goal initially, and the chapter on fate/chance. However, as with any book with this many subjects in it, there are chapters that an individual will not be as interested in. For this reason, occasionally the book seemed to drag on.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for non-conventional stories on the Civil War or anyone who is interested in American history in general. This book would be an excellent academic reference for a paper; however, I would think finding specific information might be difficult without reading the entire book. The book has a thorough index, but the chapters are organized in such a way that they do not have a specific timeline or geographical location, just information about the general subject described by the chapter's title.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curiosity Abounds!, March 5, 2000

By 

Scott Anderson "Sharpsburg" (Shepherdstown, WV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civil War Curiosities: Strange Stories, Oddities, Events, and Coincidences (Paperback)

This work was fascinating to read and was neither over dramatic or under written. The stories were lively and interesting and the additon of old photos and draqwings helped fill out the book.

This book won't bog you down in heavy reading, but it will liven your interest in the odd coincidences of the Civil War!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Captivating, June 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Civil War Curiosities: Strange Stories, Oddities, Events, and Coincidences (Paperback)

I have three of Garrison's books: The Amazing Civil War, Civil War Curiosities, and More Civil War Curiosities. I would recommend each and every book to anyone! The facts that Garrison writes about are both interesting and captivating and being a high school American History teacher, I plan on using the facts that I have found no where else to captivate my students and give them a perspective on the war that they may have never found otherwise