Sir Henry Morton Stanley, Confederate

Sir Henry Morton Stanley, Confederate. Edited with an introduction by Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes Jr. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000. Pp. [xvi], 173. $28.95, ISBN 0-8071-2587-3.)

Many years ago, while working on another Civil War project, Nathaniel Hughes came across a copy of The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1909), the celebrated African explorer who had briefly served in the Confederate army. Hughes's eye fell upon an account of the battle of Shiloh that possessed, he says, "a fresh yet surreal feel that seems quite contemporary, and reminds one of Stephen Crane" (p. 1). Now Hughes has prepared for publication the chapters covering Stanley's sojourn in the southern states between 1859 and 1865.

Stanley's sharp eye for detail and powers of social observation are apparent at several points...