Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

The Oxford Dictionary of Civil War Quotations. By John D. Wright. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 1 vol. 452 p. $39.95. ISBN 0-19-516296-X; ISBN-13 978-0-19-516296-7.

Students who are interested in the feelings of those who lived during this period of our history will find a vast array here from women left at home, soldiers at all levels, generals, reporters, authors, and politicians. Perhaps the most poignant are the words of Abraham Lincoln, always eloquent, sometimes humorous, and sometimes echoing his frustrations as in a complaint about Major General McClellan who did not seem to be much of a fighter, “If McClellan can’t fish, he ought at least to be cutting bait at a time like this.” Since students study the Civil War in depth, it might be useful to assign any one of these fully annotated quotations giving their source and date to students to find out what was happening just before and just after the quotation became a part of history. When you point this new purchase to your social studies and language arts teachers, they will find it an interesting resource to engage student critical thinking.