Provides a dramatic picture—mostly told by the participants themselves in historical letters and documents—of the transition from slavery to freedom for thousands of human being as well as a stirring record of the efforts of some of America's finest do-gooders.
~Appalachian Heritage
Sears has done a formidable job in making available a large body of information about Camp Nelson and it role during the Civil War and the immediate post-war era.
~Bowling Green Daily News
Sears' Camp Nelson story is compelling and one of which historians should be aware.... A well-written and judiciously edited combination of narrative and documentary history.
~H-Net Reviews
A well-written and judiciously edited combination of narrative and documentary history.... Should make an impact on future studies of Civil War Kentucky.
~H-Net Reviews
Sears has collected a valuable set of letters that document the military, social, medical, and economic history of Camp Nelson.
~John David Smith
A major contribution to the literature of the Civil War and to the history of the transition from slavery to freedom by African Americans.
~Journal of Southern History
For anyone interested in race relations in Kentucky, this work paints a portrait of a little-known starting point in a crook of the Kentucky River.
~Lexington Herald-Leader
A worthy addition to scholarship on the military service of African Americans during the Civil War and on military operations in Civil War Kentucky, East Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia.
~North Carolina Historical Review
Likely to be of value for anyone interested in the black experience during the war.
~NYMAS Newsletter
Expands our understanding of a complex and conflicted era in Kentucky's history as well as providing a resource for future studies on Camp Nelson and the Civil War in the Bluegrass.
~Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
Sears draws together a wealth of documents from and about the camp to tell the story of its rise and fall.
~Winchester Sun
Camp Nelson, Kentucky is an expansive, well edited, and valuable compilation of primary source material for military and socio-political students of the Civil War in the Bluegrass State to explore. It will also serve as a great resource for the study of Ambrose Burnside's East Tennessee campaign, an operation that is yet to receive a book length treatment. Recommended.
~Civil War Books and Authors (cwba.blogspot.com)
