A Short Review of Phillip Thomas Tucker’s “Blacks in Gray Uniforms”

Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog

A Short Review of Phillip Thomas Tucker’s “Blacks in Gray Uniforms”

Posted in Memory by Andy Hall on March 30, 2018

There’s no index.

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13 comments

13 Responses

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Mike Furlan said, on March 30, 2018 at 8:15 am

Maybe this is why?

“In most publishing contracts, the author pays for the index. That comes as a surprise to many first-time authors, but it’s because the index is considered part of the book’s content – and the author is responsible for providing all the content of a book under contract.”

https://alanrinzler.com/2009/01/every-non-fiction-book-needs-an-index-heres-why/

Reply
- Andy Hall said, on March 30, 2018 at 9:03 am
  
  Putting together an index to a book-length work is a headache, for sure. And it almost has to be done by the author him- or herself, because it requires making decisions about what to include and what to leave out, how to organize the entries, and so on. It’s labor-intensive, but it’s also essential if the work in question is intended as a serious work, to be used and cited by others as a reference. You know, to look up stuff.
  
  Tucker isn’t a novice at this, nor is his publisher, and the lack of an index in this case cannot be attributed to anything other than an affirmative decision not to include one.
  
  Reply
  - James F. Epperson said, on March 30, 2018 at 12:44 pm
    
    When I wrote my math text, doing the index was that “I gotta do this to be done” last thing. There are tools to help you do it, depending on how the text is prepared, but it is still a major pain in the ass.
    
    Reply
    - Andy Hall said, on March 30, 2018 at 12:59 pm
      
      Agreed. But you do it because it needs to be done.
      
      Reply
  - woodrowfan said, on April 2, 2018 at 7:43 pm
    
    how about a bibliography???
    
    Reply
    - Andy Hall said, on April 2, 2018 at 8:39 pm
      
      There’s a bibliography.
      
      Reply
jason perez said, on March 30, 2018 at 9:27 am

I thought we already took a new look at the “south’s most forgotten combat troops”:
http://cwmemory.com/searching-for-black-confederate-soldiers-the-civil-wars-most-persistent-myth/

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- Andy Hall said, on March 30, 2018 at 9:33 am
  
  That one’s coming.
  
  Reply
  - jason perez said, on March 30, 2018 at 9:34 am
    
    very much looking forward. and lets hope there’s an index hehe
    
    Reply
Shoshana Bee said, on March 30, 2018 at 10:30 am

No index?? *places book back on shelf*

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cptshandy said, on March 30, 2018 at 12:57 pm

Even if I wouldn’t think that the book is codswallop, a look at the author’s biography on Amazon gives me secondhand embarrassment…

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- Andy Hall said, on March 30, 2018 at 1:25 pm
  
  How far into the nearly 5,000 words did you get?
  
  Reply
  - cptshandy said, on March 31, 2018 at 1:54 am
    
    Far enough…
    
    Reply