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Rating: 
Summary: Decent collection of letters with unusual angle
Review: "Him on the One Side and Me on the Other" tells one of those stories that sounds like fiction. The Campbell brothers emigrate from Scotland to America. Alexander settled in New York City while James moved to Charleston. When the war broke out, Alexander enlisted in the 79th New York "Highlanders" and James in the 1st South Carolina "Charleston" battalion. Their war service was vastly different: Alexander fought in Virginia, South Carolina and Kentucky, and resigned in 1863 after being wounded in battle. James helped guard the South Carolina coast, was captured in the battle of Battery Wagner in July 1863 and spent the rest of the war in three Northern prisons. Although both brothers wrote the letters that are collected in this book, they are vastly dissimilar. The majority of the book consists of Alexander's letters to his wife, while most of James's letters were from prison, by nature short and censored. But one from James shortly after the brothers fought in the battle of Successionville in 1862 laid the position down succinctly: "I hope that You and I will never again meet face to face Bitter enemies on the Battle field. But if such should be the case You have but to discharge your deauty to Your caus for I can assure you I will strive to discharge my deauty to my country & My cause." But despite their beliefs in their respective causes, Alexander and James were brothers, and their feelings for each other, as reflected in the letters and Alexander's assistance to James while he was in prison, never changed. They were brothers first. Also included in "Him on the One Side" is an extensive collection of footnotes, explanatory material and maps.
Rating:
Summary: Decent collection of letters with unusual angle
Review: "Him on the One Side and Me on the Other" tells one of those stories that sounds like fiction. The Campbell brothers emigrate from Scotland to America. Alexander settled in New York City while James moved to Charleston. When the war broke out, Alexander enlisted in the 79th New York "Highlanders" and James in the 1st South Carolina "Charleston" battalion. Their war service was vastly different: Alexander fought in Virginia, South Carolina and Kentucky, and resigned in 1863 after being wounded in battle. James helped guard the South Carolina coast, was captured in the battle of Battery Wagner in July 1863 and spent the rest of the war in three Northern prisons. Although both brothers wrote the letters that are collected in this book, they are vastly dissimilar. The majority of the book consists of Alexander's letters to his wife, while most of James's letters were from prison, by nature short and censored. But one from James shortly after the brothers fought in the battle of Successionville in 1862 laid the position down succinctly: "I hope that You and I will never again meet face to face Bitter enemies on the Battle field. But if such should be the case You have but to discharge your deauty to Your caus for I can assure you I will strive to discharge my deauty to my country & My cause." But despite their beliefs in their respective causes, Alexander and James were brothers, and their feelings for each other, as reflected in the letters and Alexander's assistance to James while he was in prison, never changed. They were brothers first. Also included in "Him on the One Side" is an extensive collection of footnotes, explanatory material and maps.
Rating: 
Summary: Detailed illumination of the concept of "The Brothers' War"
Review: A well-edited collection of the letters of two brothers who fought on opposite sides in the Civil War and very nearly met in combat on one of the battlefields. This book has received much good press in the Civil War publishing community with good reason: concise, informative, and dramatic, it's everything you would want in a book of this nature.
Rating:
Summary: Would like to give it 3 1/2 stars, but who's counting?
Review: As the elected historian for the 79th New York National Regiment, I highly recommend this book. Real historical works are not embellished to please the common masses, like some folks obviously want. No one can read Dyer's Compendium and think it is an exciting book, and the Official Records are not for those who are just used to junk books and who are looking for a good "bed-time" story. Terry Johnston's book takes the letters of the two Campbell brothers regardless of their content, and he presents them as is. He gives us an insight to the everyday wants and the lives of the two men. The letter that James sends his brother Alexander through the lines after their regiments met at Secessionville, South Carolina, speaks volumes about how soldiers felt about duty in the Civil War. Mr. Johnston's footnotes are well-researched and highly informative. The layout flows and is well done, but what do you expect from a university press, which are notorious for their very high standards. The 79th New York has suffered a lot of insults with the recent printing of a very atrocious book, but Mr. Johnston's book honors the men of the 79th and he tells the truth about the soldiers using their own words. I did not find the book to be dull or boring, but to be interesting and full of insight. This book will last as a reference work long after the mass market books have faded into oblivion. If you are a real historian and know good books you'll like this work.
Rating: 
Summary: Theme is overdone, nothing fresh or new
Review: I am a diehard Civil War buff, and I was absolutely bored silly by this endless exchange of uneventful letters. Sure, the idea of brothers at war is interesting, but the novelty gets old very quickly with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Get it.
Review: I am the reader from Chicago posted below. I am not Terry Johnston. Although I am his acquaintance, I am also acquainted with other authors whose work I chose not to review. I reviewed his book because I like it and for no other reason.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book for Scholars of the Individual Soldier
Review: It's refreshing to learn what it was really like to live through the Civil War without the opinions and embellishments of authors clouding the facts.
Rating:
Summary: History
Review: Letter collections often can be a catch-as-catch-can propostion. As you can see from the previous reviews, this particular collection has raised some eyebrows. I've already posted my feelings on this book and won't bore you with a restaging. But I would encourage everyone who reads these reviews to approach this book with an open mind. It seems some of the reviewers have different agendas at work for whatever reasons; the bile is a bit off-putting. Obviously, opinions can differ, but there really is no reason to sling insults.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful little book
Review: My title is chosen carefully - this is both a wonderful book and a "little" book. Most of those reviewing it who give it less than five stars are simply expecting too much of it, and part of the charm of the book is its simplicity and limited goals.
It is a book with limited goals and aims which collects the available bits of a fascinating story. "Him on One Side and Me on the Other" does not seek to draw any grand conclusions or deeper analysis from these bits, though it does try to fill out the bits and give us the parts of the story that can be filled in from other documents.
The two Campbell brothers represent a bit of America that transcends the Civil War - these are immigrant stories and stories about the growth of the country. But, most of all, they are simply stories. They leave us wanting to know much more about the brothers and their families, where they came from, and what they were doing. Beyond reading the footnotes, it really is helpful to read this together with more analytical histories of the time, both histories of the 79th (a fascinating regiment and story), of 19th Century America (especially its immigrants and industrialization) and, perhaps, though oddly less importantly, of the Civil War.
As an example of one fascinating place where this story and the broader historical moment come together, this book has some great detail on the transition of the military to a professional force. The 79th was a volunteer regiment, one where the men initially picked their own leaders, which made the regiment uniquely political. It also meant that the 79th really did have something of a mind of its own, interpreting orders rather than simply implementing them. In the letters from Alexander, you see some of the strains of this system on a rank and file infantry-man, one who is not apparently moving up through the political or military ranks, and this is one of those places where the stories interact very nicely with the history. There are, however, many others, and the book is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Would like to give it 3 1/2 stars, but who's counting?
Review: Previous reviewers seem to think this book was either spectacular or terrible. It's neither. This is a decent book of edited letters. Let me explain its main strengths and weaknesses as I see them. Strengths: (1) Interesting story of brother vs. brother. You always hear of the Civil War as the brothers war--I know I've heard of several high-profile examples of relatives on opposite sides. But these letters acually illuminate an example among common soldiers. They (the Campbell brothers) were Scottish immigrants who settled in North and South. They actually fought against each other at Secesionville in South Carolina. I found their personal story both interesting and (at times) moving. (2) footnotes. There are many useful and insightful footnotes throughout the book. I suppose folks find these types of informative footnotes either helpful or distracting. I myself liked the fact that people, places and things mentioned in the letters were identified. Weaknesses: (1) Lack of battle content. Other than letters on First Manassas (which is good) and some on action in South Carolina, there is little written in detail about fighting. (2) Language of the letters. These brothers obviously weren't very educated. Their spelling is terrible and writing is choppy. The editor has left it as is. I can understand why--keeping alive the flavor of the letters--but it doesn't make them easier to read. I can see folks being put off by this. In sum, this is not a Civil War classic--not even close. But it certainly isn't the worst Civil War book out there, as another reviewer stated. I found it generally good. Again, I would liked to have seen more military content, and of course even more on the brother vs. brother theme, but overall I enjoyed it. Because of this, I rounded my 3 1/2 stars up to 4.
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