Another Review and a Note About Wikipedia

 

Another review of the Montgomery biography has come to my attention, this one by David Marshall at The New York Military Affairs Symposium (scroll down to Feb. 22). Like all the others I've seen (see my previous posts below, and the "praise" tab from publisher's page) it is a largely positive review. But it's the second one I've seen to criticize my alleged use of "Wikipedia as a source".

This is a reference to a sentence in my Preface and Acknowledgments which said: "I somewhat guiltily acknowledge frequent use of the online Wikipedia encyclopedia, while not relying on it as a cited source."

If that needs clarifying, what I meant was I did not use Wikipedia as a source but as a very useful tool. I bet most historians and other inquiring minds also use it, whether or not they are prepared to admit doing so. Yes, it may be slanted, itself insufficiently sourced, or even, on rare occasion, sabotaged. But I have found it generally accurate and a good first reference when first looking up someone or something.

I gave a couple of graciously received local talks last week, one to the Capital District Civil War Round Table (see photo below) in Watervliet, NY, and the other to the Academy for Lifelong Learning in Saratoga Springs.

The latter presentation was about my novel The Last Circle of Ulysses Grant. Published in 2018 by Square Circle Press and still in print, it has drawn less attention than the two biographies published by Casemate, but may be my favorite book -- which could be why I'm now working on (or at least planning) another novel.