"Charles Grear's Why Texans Fought in the Civil War is a welcome addition to the military and social history of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi. Thoroughly researched, well documented, and engagingly written, this volume is a must for the scholar and Civil War enthusiast alike."--Gary D. Joiner, assistant professor of history, Louisiana State University, Shreveport
|"Charles David Grear, one of the rising talents in Civil War and Texas scholarship, has asked—and answered—one of the salient questions of the war. Why did men from the far western reaches of the Confederacy put their lives on hold, set their futures aside, and push headlong into a conflict they might have been able to avoid? The answers in this excellent book are sure to provoke debate and discussion for years to come. . . an excellent and fascinating look at what motivates men to go to war."--Donald S. Frazier, professor of history, McMurray University
|". . . first-rate work on the motivations of Texans to fight in the Civil War. . . a well-written and exhaustively researched book. . . will appeal to both scholars and general readers. . . "--Civil War Book Review
|"As the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War approaches, the question of why men fought for or against the United States government still remains a hotly debated topic. . . . While historians have debated this topic for decades, Grear is the first scholar to devote an entire book to the motives of Texans. . .While the reasons Texans fought are no different from those of other soldiers, Grear is the first historian to bring them together through quotations from participants and by using the research of historians of various Texas units. As a result, this is a book that deserves its place on any bookshelf."--Kentucky Historical Society
|"Grear's study is a valuable contribution to Civil War history. Not only does he examine the military aspect of the Lone Star State, a worthy notion in itself, but his study delves into the realm of the social history of Texas and the South as it explores the diverse makeup of Texans while touching on the themes of ethnic and immigration history to support his interpretations. The author grounds his study on a rich array of archival accounts, newspapers, and published works in addition to a long list of secondary studies. No other study of Civil War Texas has provided such a comprehensive list of manuscript sources and archives. Accordingly, Grear's book will serve as the standard work on Texas Civil War soldiers; yet Civil War scholars beyond the Lone Star State can also benefit from this study and its arguments."--Southwestern Historical Quarterly
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