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Rating  - Money and War
The nice story plot made for an enjoyable; but, somewhat light weight read. Unfortunately, the author seemed to only outline the characters, places and events with a very broad brush.
Many details were curiously vague; such as those about the subject of the book's title. For the curious there was no explanation about the difficulty the CSA had making the Confederate Money so often mentioned. Some back ground on the troubles the CSA had running the block aide to get the paper to print the money and where and how they printed it would have added a level of historical interest.
Given Henry's entrepreneurial dealings it would have been interesting to better explain the banking process during the Civil War saga. How did one deal with the local banks? So little detail is provided on the subject that I am not sure one would have been confident leaving any sum of paper money or specie with a bank before riding off to the next state. This along with many other descriptions made the story feel historically flat, as physical surroundings were rendered in a frustratingly generic fashion that failed to provide a genuine sense of the historical depth of the period.
It would have been helpful if the book included simple maps to help the reader better understand the daunting journey Henry, Ben, et.al. followed through the Southern States. To truly appreciate their journey requires a map, plus a prior understanding of battle scenes and troop movements.
Through out the book the characters lacked clarity and retained a one dimensional persona. Most significantly, at the book's end, one has no better insight to Henry's inner soul that at the beginning. One is left with the nagging question as to whether Henry was a saintly hero or simply a Machiavellian rube.
Rating  - Couldn't put it down
I actually ordered this book by mistake while searching for numismatic books and catalogs on Confederate currencies and coins. Paul Varnes' "Confederate Money" arrived when I was in the process of taking a short weekend trip. At first very disappointed that I ordered the "wrong" book, I decided to bring this book along to pass the time at the airport. Needless to say, I was hooked by the first chapter. When I had "down time" during the course of my trip, I picked up the book and could not put it back down. To make a long story short, I finished reading this book from cover to cover before my return the next evening. I'm now glad to say that I had indeed purchased the "RIGHT" book. Excellent reading!
Rating - Confederate Money Insights
This book is great!! It accurately tracks much of the war. The adventure brings this time period alive and answers many questions about how the war actual ended for the South in Florida. The decline in the value of Confederate money, The benevelance of the people of the time, and the tendency to do good in hard times are central themes of the book. One is caught up in the adventure to the point that it is hard to put the book down. The battles at Shiloh Church, Chicamauga, and Olustee receive excellent coverage. However, the best parts to me were rescue of some white slaves that Sherman sent north, and the daring raid on the Confederate treasury as the war ended and the treasury was being divided in Archer Florida. A must read.
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Customer Reviews for Pineapple Press (FL),1561642711,9781561642717,1561642711,813.6 |
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Books : Confederate Money Customer Reviews
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