"Curiosities of the Civil War" by Webb Garrison

This is the first book on the Civil War that I have ever read, and I must say that I was quite astounded by its scope. There are facts and topics covered that I would never have even begun to think about concerning this war - things like hostages and pirates, improvements in weaponry with inventions such as land mines and grenades, how (and if) soldiers got paid, spies and deserters, US Supreme Court cases involving the conflict, and the list goes on and on.
This is not a read-through volume. It is more of a topical reference or casual trivia book (like a bathroom reader). Each factoid is explained in a few sentences or a few short paragraphs; very few nuggets of information took up even one printed page. This is a positive aspect, in my opinion, because I was not forced to read an entire chapter about a certain time period or battle or person - just snippets grouped loosely under broad categories.
There were a few negatives to me. For one, towards the end of the book there were a few typographical errors. In the most extreme case, "n" was all that survived of the intended preposition "in." Considering this is a reprint, a new edition, typos like these are inexcusable. Did no one proofread the reprint?
Other than that, the biggest negative was repetition. Due to the size and scope of the work, it unfortunately delivers many re-tellings of the same battles and situations, although from different perspectives concerning different subjects. So, reading the book straight through (as I did in a few days) is not recommended. Read it in spurts, a chapter or so at a time over a long period. You will appreciate it more that way.
In all, it is an excellent book that was very insightful for me!
I received this book from the publisher as part of the BookSneeze bloggers' review program. I was not required to give a positive review, and the opinions stated are my own.