Howdy, fellow Walthamian! (Not sure that’s a word, but it is now.) I was actually born in Boston, but we lived in Waltham until my dad’s job transferred us to Indiana and then Kansas City, which is where I live now in the suburbs on the Kansas side of the state line. Proud alumnus of St. Jude’s Elementary School, Warrendale Little League, and the best university in any town that was burned to the ground by William Quantrill. Still a Sox, Bruins, Celts, and Pats fan, and always will be, though the Mookie trade seriously tested my resolve.

I liked it a lot, particularly the fact that it was a holistic view of the March to the Sea, not just the military aspects. In that sense, it was the most complete book I’ve read on the subject. Most of the others focused on tactics, battles, leaders, etc. The examples of how impacts of those events have carried forward into modern times was very interesting. I’m glad you picked this one for the club, I’m looking forward to the discussion on it next month.

I'm happy to see Pea Ridge making the podcast, because I think the Trans-Mississippi Theater is historically neglected in Civil War discussion. I'm biased because I'm sitting in Kansas as I type this, but there's a wealth of topics from that theater, or that heavily touch on that theater. A short list: - Battle of Wilson's Creek - Battle of Westport - Burning of Lawrence, KS - The Border War / Bleeding Kansas - Guerrilla Warfare in general - Notorious guerrillas in particular (Quantrill, Bloody Bill Anderson, James Lane, Charles Jennison, Jesse James, etc.) - John Brown, his origins, his raid, etc. - Native Americans in the Civil War - The New Mexico Campaign - The Siege of Port Hudson - Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition