William McGovern has won the John T. Hubbell Prize for the best article published in Civil War History during 2019. His study, “`City of Refuge’: Child Refugees and Soldiers’ Orphans in Civil War St Louis,” appeared in the December 2019 issue of Civil War History. The prize recipient was selected by the journal’s editorial advisory board. The prize earns the recipient a $1,000 award from The Kent State University Press.

Toby A. Appel reviews Diploma Mill: The Rise and Fall of Dr. John Buchanan and the Eclectic Medical College of Pennsylvania for the Bulletin of the History of Medicine.
“Buchanan ran a large business, selling diplomas to individuals with or without any formal medical training in the United States and Europe. Buchanan’s two schools were not the […]

112 years ago today the city of Collinwood, OH. suffered from a terrible event. Find out more in this interview with James Jessen Badal, the author of The Collinwood Tragedy: The Story of the Worst School Fire in American History. From the broadcast by WKYC-TV.
https://www.wkyc.com/video/entertainment/television/its-about-you/dr-james-jessen-badal-the-collinwood-tragedy-the-story-of-the-worst-school-fire-in-american-history/95-d3be9700-7114-46a4-a2e9-6b62e7d8dc16

In a field of writers eloquent about the pathologies of selfhood and modern life, Deborah Fleming’s Resurrection of the Wild stood apart.

Don’t miss this excellent review of War, Memory, and the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion by Thomas R. Flagel. Reviewed by Keven Caprice for H-CivWar.
“With this work, Flagel has added a new level of insight to the field of Civil War memory, and his microhistorical approach to the personal nature of memory is a welcome addition. His focus on […]

The award show is tonight but this book’s a winner no matter what the outcome.
The Millions interviews Resurrection of the Wild: Meditations on Ohio’s Natural Landscape author and PEN award finalist Deborah Fleming.
“I feel that, more than ever, we need to do what we can to preserve wildlife, from insects to megafauna. Each one has its place […]

Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings is reviewed on the Books of Titans podcast.

“There is great romance in the idea of this group of friends meeting and discussing their work. The camaraderie and creative impetus of the Inklings must have been one of the greatest experiences […]

Ever wonder what makes a femme fatale? Find that out and more in Crime Reads’ extended excerpt from The Beauty Defense: Femmes Fatales on Trial by Laura James.
“Classical literature is filled with infectious damsels and dead heroes. ‘The betrayal of a king or hero by his mistress is, in short, a story both old and popular,’ […]

Cecily Zander reviews Paul Taylor’s “The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known”: The North’s Union Leagues in the American Civil War on H-Net.org
“Joining the growing tide of literature concerned with understanding nationalism in the Civil War-era North, Paul Taylor’s The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known: The North’s Union Leagues in the American Civil War offers a detailed analysis […]

Laura James speaks about her informative new book The Beauty Defense: Femmes Fatales on Trial.
“Laura James makes the case that more than 30 women got away with murder because of their looks in her new true crime book ‘The Beauty Defense.’
‘The better looking a woman is, the more likely she is to walk,’ James said. ‘I collected […]