Ploughshares into Swords: Josiah Gorgas and Confederate Ordnance (Texas a & M University Military History Series, No 36)

Rating:
Summary: great work by a master historian
Review: This book shows how the leadership and resourcefulness of Josiah Gorgas helped keep the Confederacy in arms and ammunition for the four long years of the Civil War. Faced with transportation and supply difficulties and sometimes even a lack of cooperation from the states he was serving, Gorgas stayed the course in what comes across as to the greatest extent physically possible given the circumstances. Vandiver goes through exquisite detail of what got made where, how it got to the battlefield, how everything had to be coordinated, etc. This book is also a tale of what the Civil War was like through the experience of an important government official - the daily reports, the shifts in the prospects for victory, the sense of impending crisis, and so on. A well-written, thoroughly-researched, comprehensive effort. The authority on the Confederacy's chief quartermaster, and an important work on Confederate arms and ammunition as well.

Rating:
Summary: A superb treatment for an often overlooked subject
Review: This is a classic of Civil War history, superbly researched and well-crafted by an author who has complete command of this crucial aspect of the Southern war effort. Not only is it well-written, the excellent research is immediately available to the reader due to the footnotes being located at the bottom of the page, rather than the inferior lay-out method of placing footnotes at the end of the book. In order for anyone to gain a full understand the Confederate war effort, Vandiver's PLOUGHSHARES INTO SWORDS is a must.