The opposite side of the same coin deals with Civil War periodicals, of which there are at least a dozen. This mother lode of information contains thousands of articles and book reviews on virtually every conceivable subject and several you have never considered. How do you determine what has been recently published on a particular regiment or general? Where can you find a book review on a specific battle or campaign? Who is reviewing what and where can I read it?
As an undergraduate student at the University of Northern Iowa, I spent much of my free time digging through bound back issues of Civil War periodicals, absorbing articles on various topics and perusing book reviews. I learned the hard way that without organized record keeping, relocating a particular article or review a second time was an exasperating and often unsuccessful task. Thanks to one dedicated researcher/compiler, those days of vexatious hunting are a thing of the past.
Lee Merideth and I became acquainted almost a decade ago. At that time he was climbing the summit of his mammoth project that resulted in the immensely useful Civil War Times and Civil War Times, Illustrated 30-Year Comprehensive Index (Twentynine Palms, 1989). The success of that reference tool--which unlocked the scholarship trapped inside a collection of magazines that almost everyone owned but no one could effectively utilize--spawned another ground breaking publication: Guide to Civil War periodicals, Volume One (Twentynine Palms, 1991). The first volume of the Guide boasts over 30,000 cross-referenced listings (including book reviews) from six magazines or periodicals. Many times I have watched Lee smile and nod in appreciation when showered with words of gratitude by a grateful purchaser of one of his tomes.
Years of additional compiling and research (sandwiched between untold hours of work indexing Savas Publishing titles) has broken new ground once again with the second volume of Guide to Civil War Periodicals. Almost twice as long with 58,000 cross-referenced listings, this installment of the Guide includes the same periodicals covered in the earlier volume, as well as two additional publications (Civil War Regiments: A Journal of the American Civil War and American History Illustrated). It is now easier then ever to relax in your favorite easy chair and explore your magazine (and local library's) collection in a way never before possible.
It is worth noting that in addition to Lee's triumvirate of indexes, the current outpouring of Civil War titles includes several worthwhile reference works that complement Lee's endeavors. Of recent vintage is More Generals in Gray (Baton Rouge, 1995), by Bruce Allardice, and David J. Eicher's The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography (Urbana, 1997), a pleasing expansion of the popular but woefully outdated Civil War Books: A Critical Bibliography, edited by Allan Nevins, James I. Robertson, Jr., and Bell I. Wiley, As one who can testify to the rigors of everyday research, all of these books are invaluable additions and worth several times their cover price.
More than half a decade ago I concluded the Foreword to the first volume of Lee's Guide with the following observation: "Students and even general readers of the most exciting and defining four years of our existence as a nation will be very excited by the publication of this book. Researchers will be eternally grateful."
Having lived with these indices for some time, I stand behind my closing testimonial.
Theodore P. Savas
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