Book Review

Too often in the past, Civil War historians produced biographies that portrayed individuals as being all brilliant or all mediocre, all good or all bad, hero or villain. Part of this phenomenon was the result of the amazingly long survival of Lost Cause mythology, which not only deified Confederates at the expense of Federals but also enshrined some Southerners at the expense of others. Fortunately, in recent years, Civil War biographers have moved beyond this constricting framework. Numerous books and articles have presented Union and Confederate leaders in a more objective and accurate way.	1
The two books under review here deal with a Union politician and general, Nathaniel P. Banks, and a Confederate general, Joseph E. Johnston, both of whom have come in for more than their share of criticism. While the Banks book is a full biography, the Johnston monograph considers his role in one military campaign. Both evaluate the contemporary and historical reputations of their subjects and do so in an objective manner.	2
James G. Hollandsworth Jr., an administrator at the University of Southern Mississippi and author of an earlier book on black soldiers in Louisiana, provides a workmanlike biography of a controversial Union figure. Banks was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1858 despite his only recent election to that body and his membership in the Republican party that itself was but a few years old. In 1860 there was even talk of Banks becoming the Republican presidential nominee. Despite this early promise, Banks was successful neither as a general nor as a political leader during and after the Civil War.	. . .