To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65

Rating:
Summary: Well researched and detailed presentation of POW camp
Review: George Levy does an excellent job in presenting the life and times of a Civil War prisoner of war camp -- from its origin to its closing after the completion of the War. The most positive aspect of the book, however, is that it lacks bias; Levy is objective throughout his presentation. The only detractions of the book are what I perceived to be poor editting. For instance, several statements and facts were often repeated in later chapters. Also, tables of data were poorly presented in their format. This is not the author's fault, but rather the editor's. With regard to content, I would have preferred to read more descriptions of Camp Douglas from the Union soldiers' point of view (especially those within the Camp's garrison or the VRC). Nearly all of the views of the Camp from the Union perspective were based on administrator's reports and communications. How different were the views between the common Union soldier and the Confederate POWs? We really don't get a clear picture of this dichotomy from Levy's book. Overall, the book is better than any Andersonville book that I've read.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting information but questionable analysis
Review: Lets start with the author. His research is exacting, methodical, and painstaking. He brought zero bias to the enterprise and the result is a stunning achievement that is both scholarly and readable. Douglas, the "accidental" prison camp began as a training camp for IL. volunteers. Donalson and Island #10 changed that. The long war no one expected combined with artic cold, primitive medical care and the barbarity of the captors created in the authors own words "a death camp." Stanton's and Grant's policy of halting the prisoner exchange behind the pretense of Fort Pillow accelerated the suffering. In the latest edition Levy found the long lost hospital records at the National Archives which prove conclusively that casualties were deliberately under reported. Prisoners were tortured, brutality was tolerated and corruption was widespread. The handling of the dead rivals stories of Nazi Germany. The largest mass grave in the Western Hemisphere is filled with....the bodies of Camp Douglas dead, 4200 known and 1800 unknown. No one should be allowed to speak of Andersonville until they have absorbed the horror of Douglas.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting information but questionable analysis
Review: This is a strange book and I would be interested to know how well it was received by the academic community. On the one hand, Levy quotes and footnotes a large number of original sources. (Most of these seem reliable, but he uses several Chicago newspapers somewhat uncritically, which worries me a little.) On the other hand, his analytical statements sometimes seem questionable or even simply wrong. As one example, his claim that Morgan's raid "pointed the way for" Sherman's march through Georgia is not, I think, supportable. The book overall lacks a thesis or analytical framework. The edition I read was also very badly edited, with several paragraphs actually cut off and the text missing. Having made these criticisms, the original sources, particularly prisoners' diaries, quoted by Levy do reveal a vision of a horrific place to be. At Camp Douglas, unusually for the period, prisoners were actually beaten by guards and forced to sit unclothed in the snow, among other "punishments". Levy does not analyze the fact that this brutality worsened significantly as the war went on, with the camp being reasonably tolerable in 1862 and a hellhole in 1864. Overall, this book collects interesting information but I would treat all unsupported statements made by the author with extreme caution.

Rating:
Summary: Superb Book
Review: To Die in Chicago is a wonderfully researched and well-written book that provides a vivid and heartbreaking account of the Confederate prisoners who lived and died in a Union prison camp. It gives much information for anyone seeking information about ancestors held there and it offers a real sense of the prisoners' daily lives and ordeals. I checked it out six times from the library and decided it is time to buy it. You should too!

Rating:
Summary: Superb Book
Review: To Die in Chicago is a wonderfully researched and well-written book that provides a vivid and heartbreaking account of the Confederate prisoners who lived and died in a Union prison camp. It gives much information for anyone seeking information about ancestors held there and it offers a real sense of the prisoners' daily lives and ordeals. I checked it out six times from the library and decided it is time to buy it. You should too!