Book Review

The Howling Storm. By Kenneth Noe. (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2020) Pp. 670. Hardcover, $55.

Abstract

In The Howling Storm, Kenneth Noe seeks to assert the important role that climate and weather played as a variable in the outcomes of American Civil War campaigns. Yet, The Howling Storm is not an environmental history that would place climate and weather at the forefront of explanation. This book does not examine the environmental impacts of the Civil War. Rather, it elucidates environmental conditions as a critically important variable in how the various military encounters unfolded, climaxed, terminated and their aftermath. Noe does not seek to upend the interpretations of other historians, nor does he seek to proffer revelatory explanations about the performances of particular military units or commanders. Noe generally accepts prior historian’s interpretations of various Civil War engagements. Instead, he seeks to emphasize and illuminate how climate and weather prove to be as important a variable as political pressure, strategy and tactics, command decisions, and situational circumstances.

Keywords

American Civil War, Military History, Weather and Climate, 19th Century History, Civil War Era, Civil War History

How to Cite

Valimont, B., (2022) “The Howling Storm. By Kenneth Noe. (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2020) Pp. 670. Hardcover, $55.”, Essays in History 55(1), 1-2. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/eih.95

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Authors

Brian Valimont (University of Southern Mississippi)

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

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This article has been peer reviewed.

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