George Templeton Strong was a 19th Century lawyer and civic leader in New York City, helping to start the Union League’s New York social club in 1863. He is known among historians for his vivid diary of his day-to-day life and the events of the mid-19th Century, particularly the Civil War in and around New York. His diary totalled over 2,250 pages by the time he passed away in 1875. Strong’s diaries were originally published in a four volume set in 1952. Geoff Wisner has curated and edited a substantial portion of Strong’s diary into a collection called George Templeton Strong: Civil War Diaries.
Fans of Ken Burns will recall excerpts of Strong’s diary narrated by George Plimpton in The Civil War. Those excerpts, and another 750 pages worth of diary, are pulled together into a vivid retelling of daily life in New York City during the Civil War. Strong’s support for the Union, for Lincoln, and his disdain of Copperheads oozes out through the pages of the book. The diary adds detail in seeing how rumors of events during the Civil War would spread quickly, oftentimes not accurately. Given it is a diary from the 19th Century, the less savory elements of the time (racism, anti-ethnic bias) are evident in various entries.
Strong’s diaries are presented largely “as is,” with limited editing, except to remove items that were not germane to the War or family life at the time. This collection is a vivid retelling of life in the North during the Civil War through the eyes of one leading social figure.
MY RATING: 4.5
