Book # 10: Nature's Civil War: Common Soldiers and the Environment in 1862 Virginia - by Kathryn Shively Meier

Trevor Jones 
9/29/15

• Series: Civil War America
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (August 1, 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1469626497
• ISBN-13: 978-1469626499

Professional Review: 

"Successfully refreshes the common soldier scholarship and launches a worthy discussion of their approaches to health care and the environment."

--H-War

Customer Review: 

"I was required to read this text for a MA in History course and I must say that I enjoyed the book thoroughly. Meier did a fantastic job linking the Virginia Campaigns to the environment that produce so much sickness in Confederate and Union ranks alike. Although it is not comprehensive by any means, she does not claim the text to be, it gives a great overview of medical practices before and during the war. Self care was a valid concern and practice among the soldiers and deserves to be discussed. What's interesting here is that she seems to be able to link the cases of straggling with the issue of self care and preservation at least minimally. More research will obviously be needed to confirm this however one cannot overlook the correlation. Her research was fantastic, primary and secondary sources used purposefully, and weaved together masterfully. Highly recommend to those Civil War buffs out there who want to go beyond the campaigns and into camp life." 

Why I chose this book: 

I chose this book because it gives a good description on how the environment can be harsh, and how people play a role in altering it to suit their needs. This book teaches the reader a very common example of how the environment can be modified to suit the needs of humans, in this case, with the drive of survival.