Year in Review: ECW’s 2021 Blog Series

In 2021, the Emerging Civil War Blog hosted five special series, drawing together a variety of perspectives and accounts around particular themes.

April —“This Location On the Eve of War” explored historical attitudes and opinions in particular cities or regions as the Civil War began 160 years ago.

June — “Recruiting the Regiment” examined the accounts of enlistment, training, and preparation for war on both sides while taking a deeper look at units’ history.

August — In conjunction with the 2021 Symposium theme, the “Fallen Leaders” series presented details of commanders who died in battle, lost their reputations, or experienced some other type of fall during or after the war years.

October — “First Experiences Under Fire” appeared around the anniversary of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, but explored soldiers’ accounts across many battlefields as the regiment and individuals faced the whistle of bullets or the crash of artillery for the first time.

November/December — The latest series, “The Emerging Civil War Series” featured a short article about each of the books in the book series with stories behind-the-scenes about research and writing.

A few other series that get a shout-out this year are Meg Groeling’s Weekly Whitman and Chris Mackowski’s BookChats! The ECW Book Review posts have been revived this year, and editor Steve Davis is delighted to report that he counts 39 new reviews shared in 2021.

Sending much appreciation to all the ECW authors, guest authors, readers, and commenters for sharing your interests, talents, and skills to create some lively and inspiring series this year.