Overview
William M. James's Naval History is one of the most valuable works in the English language on the operation of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. James corresponded widely with the survivors of the events he describes. By carefully evaluating and balancing conflicting reports and testimonies, he achieved an accuracy often lacking in later studies.
The original five volumes were published in 1822 to 1824, with a six-volume edition appearing in 1826. This new hard-cover edition, with an introduction by the noted naval historian Andrew Lambert as well as an index for each volume, provides both scholars and maritime enthusiasts an accessible and affordable edition of this important work. Volume V features the 1808-1811 operations of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, as well as its involvement in the Peninsular War. In Volume VI, the United States enters the war at sea, and the 1811-1827 battles feature vessels such as the USS Constitution and HMS Guerriere, Chesapeake and Shannon, United States and Macedonian.
Editorials
Library Journal
Davis, a prolific and highly regarded writer on Civil War matters, sinks his teeth into a subject that is surprisingly understudied. Taking up Napoleon's observation that armies move on their stomachs, he looks at the supply, preparation, and consumption of food and drink by Civil War soldiers. The Union fared better in supplying troops with quantities of food, while Southern soldiers made do with substitutes and living off the land. Food consumed much attention in accounts by soldiers because it was the first time most were given it rather than growing it or buying it themselves and because new foods and poor preparation of foods left soldiers hungry or disgusted. Worms in hardtack and bad pork too often provided the only protein. Armies also helped themselves to civilian crops and stock despite army strictures. Davis's history includes civilian recipes of the day to give flavor to his account. The book has few surprises for close students of Civil War history, and he relies more on description than analysis in presenting his varied fare. But nowhere else will one find so full a plate on so essential a topic. Recommended for major public and academic libraries.-Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Civil War Times
A Taste for War reveals the truth about how Confederate and Union troops survived despite their less than nutritious intake and seriously deficient cooking skills. . . . [An] often amusing—and just as often stomach-turning—look at the Civil War soldiers’ victuals.—Civil War Times— Brenda Wilt
Journal of Popular Culture
Without a doubt, A Taste for War adds a new dimension to the voluminous historiography of the Civil War. . . . A Taste for War is an essential work for understanding the Civil War era (1860–1865) and the lives of the ordinary soldier.—Journal of Popular Culture— Mark D. Van Ells
Gray & Blue
This softbound reprint is sure to be a hit with food historians as well ass reenactors and others interested in the food eaten by soldiers during the Civil War.—Rick Sauers, Gray & Blue— Rick Sauers
Strategy Page
An entertraining, informative look at a usually ignored aspect of wartime life.—A. A. Nofi, Strategy Page— A. A. Nofi