The letters included in this collection are noteworthy for their content and relative completeness. Rarely does one get to read both sides of a Civil War correspondance. Usually letters from home were lost or destroyed during troop movements and only the soldier's letters remain. Grant Taylor, however, managed to hold on to many of his wife's letters and the perspective this gives on the dynamics between husband and wife is fascinating. Anyone who doubts the impact of homefront hardships on the frontline soldier need only follow Grant Taylor's growing frustration as he slips from uneasy acceptance of his military service in 1862 to depressed introspection and resignation toward his own death in 1865.
Editorially, this book suffers from a military slant that avoids discussing the very things that make these letter important: the soldier's concern for family and home and the impact that concern had on his mental and emotional condition. Footnoting is haphazard at best and wavers between military history and endlessly repetitive genealogy. I can appreciate the work that went into identifying each person mentioned either by given or nicknames, but by page 30 we are already familiar with who the cousins and brothers are and don't need to be reminded.
Read the book for its appeal as a primary source but skip the notes.
