I’m beginning to think WordPress hates me. For the second time now I’ve been prevented from posting because I’ve become caught up in some kind of virtual doom loop that looks like my page but isn’t. Ugh!
There is plenty of news to share and you’ll be happy to know that none of it is Coronavirus related!
First, concerning The Guns of September, we have a tentative publication date of summer 2020. Ted and the good folks at Savas Beatie have all of the materials for the book, including maps, back cover blurbs, etc. so barring the end of western civilization I’m hopeful we’ll see the book out in a few months’ time.
In the meantime, the delay of Guns provided me with sufficient time to finish the historical essay volume I mentioned in my last post. I’m still calling it Their Maryland: Rebel Dreams, Aspirations, and Failure in September 1862.
The manuscript currently stands at 92,000 words or thereabouts, which is precisely what I had targeted. Here are the tentative chapter titles:
Introduction
Chapter One
Rebel Revolutionary: Did Robert E. Lee Intend to Foment Rebellion in Maryland in September 1862?
Chapter Two
High Hopes: The Army of Northern Virginia Crosses the Potomac to Liberate Maryland, September 4-7, 1862
Chapter Three
Four Days on the Monocacy: Confederate Encampments Near Frederick City in September 1862 and the Implications for the Lost Orders Debate
Chapter Four
The Rocks of Reality: Maryland Civilians and Confederate Failure in the State
Chapter Five
Rebels Photographed in Frederick, Maryland: The Case for September 1862
Chapter Six
We Will Make Our Stand: A Critical Re-Assessment of Robert E. Lee’s Defensive Strategy at Antietam on September 15-16, 1862
Chapter Seven
A Very Personal Fight: Robert E. Lee at Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862
Conclusion
Ted and Savas Beatie have the manuscript for this volume, too, so we’ll be working it the second half of the year.
Lastly, I’ve managed to revise several sections of Six Days in September and run through the text to catch typos. These plagued the original publication due to a real shortage of time available to go back through the manuscript. Now I believe I’ve caught them all and changed a bit of the text, too. I’ll be giving a couple of chapters the once over this weekend to be sure before sending the manuscript off to SB. That’ll make three manuscripts from yours, truly in Ted’s inbox. He’ll have his hands full with them, I’m sure. 🙂
Once all of these are out I’m not certain what comes next. Frankly, having researched and written two books and one long essay in three years has left me a tad exhausted. Maybe a pina colada on a beach somewhere is in order! Well, a virtual beach, at least since I can’t travel.
AR
Alex Rossino Online 