HISTORY FACULTY AT SOUTHERN MISS PUBLISH SIX BOOKS

HATTIESBURG – Faculty in the Department of History at the University of Southern Mississippi published a record number of books in 2004-2005.

In all, six professors from both the Hattiesburg and Gulf Coast campuses had books appear in print in the last two years.

“The history department has a long tradition of holding a party to celebrate when a member of the faculty publishes a book, but we have never before celebrated six books in a single evening,” said Dr. Phyllis Jestice, chair of the history department.

Dr. Douglas Chambers, an assistant professor specializing in transatlantic studies, wrote Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia (University Press of Mississippi). The book has just been nominated for the prestigious Ninth Annual Library of Virginia Award in nonfiction.

Chambers’ book details the poisoning of Ambrose Madison, the grandfather of the future President James Madison, by his slaves in 1732, using it as a window into the world of colonial Virginia at the height of the transatlantic slave trade

. 

“I also tell the story of the slave community at James Madison's Montpelier over five generations, from the era of Africans in the 1720s through the forced dissolution of their enslaved descendants in the 1840s,” Chambers said.

Dr. Andrew Wiest, co-director of the nascent USM Center for the Study of War and Society, wrote Haig: The Evolution of a Commander (Potomac Books).

The recent “publishing flurry” by history faculty at Southern Miss indicates the strength of the department at all levels, Wiest said.

“The publications cut across space and time and come from both older, established scholars and younger colleagues who are at the beginnings of their own strong careers,” he said.

Dr. Eric Nelson, an associate professor who teaches on the Gulf Coast, wrote The Jesuits and the Monarchy: Catholic Reformation and Political Authority in France (1590-1615). The book was published by Ashgate in 2005.

Dr. Nicholas Sarantakes edited Seven Stars: The Okinawa Battle Diaries of Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., and Joseph Stillwell (Texas A&M University Press). Sarantakes is a visiting professor at Southern Miss this year, specializing in Asian history and U.S. Foreign Relations.

French Colonial Louisiana and the Atlantic World is a collection of essays edited by Dr. Bradley Bond, who also wrote the book’s introduction. Published by Louisiana State University Press, it is the third book either authored or edited by Bond.    

The Peninsula Campaign of 1862: A Military Analysis is the first book by Lt. Col. Kevin Dougherty, former Army ROTC battalion commander and chair of the Department of Military Science at Southern Miss now teaching in the Department of History. The 183-page book, co-authored by J. Michael Moore, is published by University Press of Mississippi.

Putting it in the context of current and long-standing military doctrine, The Peninsula Campaign of 1862 analyzes Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s unsuccessful assault toward Richmond, Va., and how the personality traits of generals can sometimes undermine their troops.

“This is a history book, but it’s designed for those with an interest in the military aspect of the event,” Dougherty said. “It offers great lessons about leadership and doctrine and the importance of chance.”