Ronald S. Coddington. Faces of Civil War Nurses

Abstract

Ronald Coddington’s cottage industry of books featuring photos of those who participated in the American Civil War began with his 2004 Faces of the Civil War, introduced by the late historian Michael Fellman. The series is now in its fifth iteration with Faces of Civil War Nurses, featuring meticulous genealogical research and biographical profiles of women who performed wartime relief services. As Coddington notes, ‘Portrait photography is at the core of this book’ (p.385). He has provided introductory material on the technologies of period cartes-de-visite, ambrotypes and tintypes in a collection of 77 images culled from private and public sources. The choice of 77 subjects is based on the previous books in the series, each of which features 77 portraits. Profiles are presented in rough chronological order based on period of service without a compelling defense of the selection criteria or representativeness of the subjects. At least...