UNDYING GLORY: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment - Softcover

Clinton Cox is the author of several award-winning books for young people. He has also written for magazines, newspapers and websites, was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and received the prestigious Page One Award for Best Local Reporting in a Magazine from the Newspaper Guild of New York. He specializes in books about African American history.

Grade 7-12-- As does the recent movie Glory , this book details the history of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, a black regiment that served with valor and distinction in the Civil War. The account begins with the formation of the unit in 1863 and follows it throughout the remainder of the war. Cox clearly documents the difficulties that black soldiers faced: pay unequal to that of whites, severe prejudice, and an unwillingness on the part of many in power to allow them to engage in actual battle. The narrative is replete with quotations from diaries, letters, newspapers, and the comments of people present at the events described. It is unquestionably a well-researched book: the bibliography consists of almost four full pages of citations from books and scholarly articles. The problem is that there are almost too many facts. They tumble over one another, as though Cox could not bring himself to leave anything out. And indeed, much of the information is fascinating. Because of the density of material, however, this is not an easy book to read. Also, the narrative does not flow smoothly because of the numerous quotations and frequent digressions to supply necessary background. The book does provide a valuable and well-documented treatment of a topic that has been too long neglected. It deserves a place in any collection that needs material on American history or black studies. --Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.