The Historical Atlas of the Congresses of the Confederate States of America: 1861-1865 / Kenneth C. Martis. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. 157 p., 45 maps; hbk. ISBN 0-13-389115-1, $75.

Even those who infer a broad scope from the title of this atlas are likely to underestimate its breadth of subject matter and the depth of its data. There are forty-five maps, forty-eight tables, and five appendices. As would be expected, there are maps of the confederacy's congressional districts (nearly all different from those that had been used earlier for elections to the U.S. House of Representatives) and its elections. In addition, there is a chapter devoted to roll-call voting on seven different issues (e.g. foreign affairs, conscription), and there are maps that give background information (e.g. land values, distribution of slaves), maps that correlate political party strengths and voting in the 1860 U.S. presidential election with confederate elections, and most fascinating and important, a series of maps that relate federal military occupation to confederate electoral activity. The five appendices cover electoral procedures and a lode of data on the elections (e.g. statistics, names of candidates and vote totals, returns from military units). Not every reader will enjoy every color used by cartographer Gyula Pauer (the raspberry is a powerful hue), but no one can complain that the colors are not distinctive; overall, the maps are admirably clear and easy to read. This atlas belongs in every reference collection that serves readers interested in the American Civil War.

JL
The Newberry Library