Indiana University Press blog

National Train Day book giveaway

This Saturday is National Train Day! To celebrate, we're giving away a copy of H. Roger Grant's latest book The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road. 

Among the grand antebellum plans to build railroads to interconnect the vast American republic, perhaps none was more ambitious than the Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston. The route was intended to link the cotton-producing South and the grain and livestock growers of the Old Northwest with traders and markets in the East, creating economic opportunities along its 700-mile length. But then came the Panic of 1837, and the project came to a halt. Grant tells the incredible story of this singular example of “railroad fever” and the remarkable visionaries whose hopes for connecting North and South would require more than half a century—and one Civil War—to reach fruition.

Fill out the form below by May 10 for your chance to win!

Free e-book giveaway: Victory at Gettysburg

Have you gotten into our e-book shorts yet? Now is the perfect time to sample a title from our INshort digital imprint! This month's featured short is Victory at Gettysburg. For one week only, you can download a free copy on our website! Offer expires 9/23/13.

For more information about INshort ebooks, read this post or see a list of all available titles.

Book review: Defeating Lee

"[T]he author is to be commended for staying focused on the organization rather than its most famous commander, [although] Hancock understandably occupies center stage at key moments." —Civil War Book Review

Book review: Defeating Lee

"The author has an easy to read informative style that made the pages fly. His word portraits make lesser-known names into real people. The battles descriptions are excellent... This is a well-written book with all the items that are expected in a serious history." —TOCWOC - A Civil War Blog

Six IU Press books recommended for public and secondary libraries

We are pleased to announce that six of our books were selected for this year's University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries. A popular and trusted acquisitions resource, the university press bibliography is the product of a longstanding and successful collaboration between the Association of American University Presses (AAUP), the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), and the Public Library Association (PLA). The IUP titles are among 350 books by AAUP members included in this bibliography. Featuring many diverse subjects, the bibliography provides librarians with valuable scholarship to match any interest. Three of the IUP titles featured were given an "outstanding" rating, including:

Conversations with Great Teachers

“[A]n important reminder that all people have something to teach and everyone still has something to learn.” —Hilary Albert (PLA)

“This wonderful title is full of surprises for any reader interested in education in the broadest sense of the term.” —Judith Repman (AASL)

Life Lessons Through Storytelling

“I found [this book] very engaging. The basic idea of drawing children’s ideas out through storytelling may not be new, but discussing their ethics, getting them to think about right and wrong in the context of stories and their own communities can have such a lasting impact on how they grow as citizens.”—Hilary Albert (PLA)

Extraordinary Circumstances

“This was not only thoroughly researched but it was well written. The text actually reads more like a story than the chronicle of a war. ... This book is a great asset to any collection.”—Elizabeth Willoughby (AASL)

Other books listed in the bibliography are Wreck of the Carl D., Guard Wars, and Bush on the Home Front.

Book review: Defeating Lee

"Hopefully, other corps histories will be told with the attention to detail, argument, and context that Kreisler has given to the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac." —Civil War Librarian

Civil War reading selections

Today is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Sumter, which started the Civil War. To mark this occasion, we offer the following reading selections to further your understanding of the Civil War.

Defeating Lee
A History of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac
Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr.
Read excerpt

This absorbing history of the Second Corps follows the unit's creation and rise to prominence, the battles that earned it a reputation for hard fighting, and the legacy its veterans sought to maintain in the years after the Civil War.

A Great Civil War
A Military and Political History, 1861-1865
Russell F. Weigley
Read excerpt

"Weigley's A Great Civil War is the finest, most complete and insightful, and historiographically up-to-date, large-scale one-volume military and political history of the U.S. war for the Union now in print." —Herman M. Hattaway

Gettysburg Heroes

Perfect Soldiers, Hallowed Ground

Glenn W. LaFantasie
Read excerpt

Largely biographical in its approach, the book captures the human drama of the war and shows how this group of individuals—including Abraham Lincoln, James Longstreet, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, William C. Oates, and others—endured or succumbed to the war and, willingly or unwillingly, influenced its outcome.

Four Years with General Lee
Walter H. Taylor

Edited and with a New Introduction by James I. Robertson, Jr.

Read excerpt

A recognized classic, Four Years with General Lee first appeared in 1877 and was a collector's item by the turn of the century. This annotated edition, first published in 1962, was prepared by noted Civil War historian James I. Robertson, Jr., who provided a new introduction for this paperback reissue.

The Stand of the U.S. Army at Gettysburg
Jeffrey C. Hall
Read excerpt

This major reinterpretation of the key battle of the American Civil War tells the story of the Gettysburg campaign as it unfolded from early June through mid-July 1863, and its climax with the Federal victory at Gettysburg.

Lincoln Bicentennial Book Sale

Celebrate Lincoln's bicentennial this month with big savings on our Lincoln and Civil War books! Plus, receive free domestic ground shipping on orders $25 and more. To redeem free shipping offer, please enter WMCWAX in the sale code box during checkout. Sale ends 2/28/09. Shop now

Book review: The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare

"This work should be of particular interest to military historians and even more so to those interested in the American Civil War and its impact on military logistics, the use of technology, weaponology, military tactical and strategic thought, and the concepts of modern warfare and its history." —wigwags

Virtual Book Signing™ with Glenn LaFantasie May 17

Glenn LaFantasie, author of Gettysburg Heroes, will participate in a Virtual Book Signing™ Saturday, May 17 at 12 pm (Central Time). What is a Virtual Book Signing™, you might ask? It's the brainchild of Daniel Weinberg, owner of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago.

“Traditionally, book signings mean leaving home and then waiting in line in order to meet an author for a few seconds to get a book signed,” says Weinberg. “Virtual Book Signing™ permits you to attend an in-shop booksiging without leaving home. You see an author speak via a streaming web cast. Then you may place an order and see the book signed while you watch.”

Learn more about Virtual Book Signing™ here.