Routledge Encyclopedia of Civil War Era Biographies

America's interest in its own civil war is prodigious. Making books on the war is a sub‐industry all of its own and with this useful compendium of profiles Dr Wright has done his bit to keep up production. Wright is a journalist and sometime academic who appears to be the sole author of the book. Writing in plain, unadorned English, he has made the articles succinct, informative and readable. One can equally well dip into the book for browsing or use it as quick reference in support of wider reading.

Whether it fills a gap is a different matter. There...