Tag Archives: free books

Nelson Miles’ Memoirs

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Another free book added to the Library, and this one promises to be interesting: Nelson A Miles was a young volunteer who earned wounds, acclaim and medals (including the Medal of Honor, though in fairness these were handed out like candy during the Civil War) on his rise to a major generalship. Post-war, he became notorious for his (supposed) maltreatment of Jefferson Davis during the latter’s imprisonment at Fortress Monroe, and in the suppression and massacres of many native tribes in the West. As it’s a memoir, I don’t expect the full story to be told, but there have to be some nuggets in here.

http://www.archive.org/details/servingrepublicm00mile

More Freebies

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I’ve uncovered a few more e-books on my travels. They’ve been added to the Library.

John Beatty’s The Citizen Soldier or, Memoirs of a Volunteer – http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20460

Finally, Richard W. Johnson’s A Soldier’s Reminiscences in Peace and War, also via Archive.org, has a handful of personal stories about Lincoln, as well as about several other generals of the war: http://www.archive.org/details/soldiersreminisc00john

Librivox

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As regular readers have noticed, I am an enthusiast of “free” books – those texts out of the public domain which have been uploaded to Internet archives and digital libraries. I’m also a fan of audiobooks, which I’ve taken to playing while I clean, commute, or generally bum around the house (note reverse order of preference). Librivox is a mashup of the two: Public domain books read by unpaid volunteers. The downside, of course, is that the readings aren’t always on par with professional readers, but then, you get what you pay for, and the online catalogue is free.

Librivox’s official website is disappointing in layout – there’s no way to search for subjects, only titles and authors, but archive.org has helpfully broken down all the categories. A quick glance shows Sam Watkins and Mary Chesnut amongst the titles, and I’m going to listen to Leander Stillwell’s diary. All three were heavily quoted in the Ken Burns series.

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Civil%20War%22%20AND%20collection%3Aaudio_bookspoetry

Reminiscences of Fred Seward

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Another free book added to The Library; Fred Seward’s Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat. Fred was the son and wartime administrator of William H. Seward, Secretary of State. He was gravely injured in the assassination attempt on his father, as part of the plot that killed Lincoln. I have no idea if this book contains much of interest, but given his proximity to the great men and his unwitting participation in that fateful night, I imagine there’ll be an anecdote or two worth reading.

More Movie News

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As I mentioned before, the Spielberg Lincoln project is on hold. Rising from the (un)dead, however, is a very different Lincoln film.  Seth Grahame-Smith – he of the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies “fame” – followed up his Austen meal by sharpening his teeth with Lincoln.  Sadly, my library’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has too many holds for me to have yet indulged, but I’m sure it’s a hoot. (To begin with, Nancy Hanks Lincoln’s death is attributed to vampirism, with “milk-sickness” as a cover.)  The best part of this film rendition is that I won’t spend too much time wringing my hands at the historical inaccuracies.

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/08/11/timur-bekmambetov-to-direct-abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter-probably-next/

The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant

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I first read Grant’s Memoirs as a teenager, and remember them as being both engaging and accessible. As one who was (and is, to this day) easily put off by the flowery, verbose prose common to novels from the Victorian era, it was refreshing to read Grant’s simple and conversational writing. You feel you’re getting the essence of the man; Plain and taciturn, yet exuding a deep strength of character and a warm humanism. Judging by the personality demonstrated here, Grant would have been a nice guy to share a beer with, or – knowing what we do of Grant’s foibles – perhaps a lemonade instead.

The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant are available as a free download from Project Gutenberg.