Our First Review!

Another surprise!  I guess it's beginning to show that I am a new author, because everything is new and exciting for me... then again, I don't think I would want this any other way!  My publisher, Ted Savas, his team, and Dr. Dennis Rosbach, who did the formal medical diagnosis on LeRoy have put so much hard work into this unique volume.... and that work seems to be appreciated.

From Emerging Civil War:  http://emergingcivilwar.com/2018/04/13/book-review-the-war-outside-my-window-the-civil-war-diary-of-leroy-wiley-gresham-1860-1865/

One thing that Meg Groeling mentioned in one of her replies is that she hopes Savas Beatie will be making the book available for the "classroom reading market." I got (again) so excited about that, as I have been putting together a rough list of the kinds of multidisciplinary activities that I would have (and have used in other contexts) with my own students.  I plan a set of guiding questions to help the students get the most from LeRoy's writing.  That will be my next step in the process of preparing this book for all kinds of  audiences, just like Dr. Rosbach, who has prepared a more detailed medically oriented version for readers who are interested in the practice of medicine at that time.

Gettiing Your Own Copy

I recently got in touch with some friends in a virtual reality platform that I had not visited in some time.  Long story there, but in catching up, it kind of brought up the topic of this remarkable book.  My friend went to Amazon, and lo and behold... THERE IT WAS!!

I had no idea at all that the publisher, Savas Beatie, had put the book up for pre-ordering!  Needless to say, I was stunned and very excited!  The team I worked with on The War Outside My Window have been so focused on getting it done and getting it to look just right with all its idiosyncracies that this reality came at me from out of the blue.

Just so you know, you can get the book directly from the staff at Savas Beatie.  All you need to do is call (916)941-6896 or email sales@savasbeatie.com.  You can ask about signed copies from them, too!  You can check out the other books that Savas Beatie has to offer!

I will also have copies that I will sign personally for you, although I am not able to provide pricing for you on that right now.  You can email me at jan@thewaroutsidemywindow.com and provide me with your PayPal information.  I will also be posting about book talks and signings here,  Books will be made available, so keep watch -- I may show up somewhere near you!

A New Perspective on the Civil War

He looks wonderfully healthy in this daguerreotype.  A nicely dressed young man of about ten years of age, looking at you through the lens of a camera with the eyes of a soul much older than he appears.

LeRoy Wiley Gresham
1847-1865

At age 8, he followed other youths on their way home from school into a burned out structure, and boys being boys, began investigating what remained.  The brick chimney began to collapse, and he bore the brunt of it.  His left leg was caught and severely crushed.  And from that point onward, he pinned his medical troubles on that one accident.

In one respect, he might have been correct.  But what would take his life at the tender age of 17 was not what he thought... and is but one of the threads that weaves throughout the remarkable set of daily journals that he kept beginning at age 12 in 1860 and ending shortly before his death in 1865.

The first thing that drew me to LeRoy's journals was that they were primary sources, and as a teacher of high school history, I have always taught my students that primary sources, regardless of their unique limitations, are the closest thing to being part of a major historical event.  These journals are unique, and although I have read many Civil War journals, memoirs, letters, official papers, and the like, they were all written by adults.  This set of journals, however, was the work of a young teenager in the South, and my initial reading led me to ask my friend, Ted Savas, of Savas-Beatie publishing if he had seen this source before.

He hadn't.  Nor had he seen anything else like it.