Jedediah Hotchkiss : rebel mapmaker and Virginia businessman /

According to his family, a biography of Hotchkiss, Civil War cartographer and tireless booster of his adopted state, Virginia, is long overdue. Ultimately, the reader will be left to wonder if perhaps the story could have waited longer to be told. Hotchkiss's surveyor's eye, detailed, meticulous mapmaking, and devotion to Stonewall Jackson and the Southern cause contributed greatly to whatever successes the Confederacy managed. In later years, his promotion of Virginia's wealth and promise earned him respect (albeit little money) both in the United States and abroad. Hotchkiss's many contributions notwithstanding, Roper spins a dull tale. Ten years in the making and scrupulously researched, this is nonetheless clumsily written, awkwardly organized, and laden with irrelevant detail. Maps from the Hotchkiss collection housed in the Library of Congress do manage to enhance the stilted narrative, but this is still not recommended.--Nancy L. Whitfield, Meriden P.L., Ct. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.