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founding

Congratulations on that writing milestone! I can't imagine you'd get to that chapter and not become emotional. You've spent a lot of time with him, his legacy. I hope the revisions good smoothly. Keep up the good work.

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author

Thanks, Lisa. Nice to finally be approaching the finish line.

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In 2023 it's hard to remember how much Reid Mitchell's first two books changed the trajectory of understanding Civil War soldiers. We all live in a world he crafted. I did not know him well, but he was the sort of person who once wrote me out of the blue to tell me that he liked something I wrote. The memoir, which really just deals with his difficult last years in China, is harrowing and uplifting at the same time, and like all his work incredibly well written. He wrote some fine poetry too.

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author

You are absolutely right. There were so few books on the subject, but the field flourished in the following decade. Based on my brief personal interaction with Mitchell, it was clear that he was quite a character.

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