|
Professors
Deborah M. Liles (University of North Texas) and Angela Boswell
(Henderson State University) have assembled an impressive and much
needed anthology of eleven essays examining the lives of Texas women
during the Civil War era. Among their contributors are such notable
scholars as Bruce A. Glasrud, Linda S. Hudson, Rebecca Sharpless,
and Jerry Thompson. This collection covers a number of significant
topics, including the ardent support of many women for secession
and war; the perils facing women living on the western frontier;
the challenges confronting wives whose husbands were away in battle;
the importance of letter writing in maintaining family bonds; the
difficulties encountered by women holding pro-Union views; the treatment
of refugee women in east Texas; and the unique experiences of German,
African American, and Mexican-Texan women.
In the volume's introduction, Dr. Boswell observes that the Civil
War "transformed life for women in Texas in ways similar to their
sisters in other Southern states and in ways unique to the state
as well." The articles in this book, she continues, "develop the
historical understanding of what it meant to be a Texas woman during
the Civil War and also contribute to a deeper understanding of the
complexity of the war and its effects."
This superb publication will appeal to readers interested in the
Civil War as well as women's history. Liles and Boswell should be
commended for their excellent study.
|
HOME
