New and Noteworthy---Soldiering For Freedom: Clear, Concise, Cogent and Accessible

Soldiering For Freedom: How The Union Army Recruited, Trained and Deployed the U.S. Colored Troops, Bob Luke and John David Smith, Johns Hopkins University Press, 131 pp., 12 b/w images, bibliographic notes, bibliography, index, $19.95.

Soldiering For Freedom: How The Union Army Recruited, Trained and Deployed the U.S. Colored Troops is a superlative introduction to the USCT for advanced placement high school and undergraduate students. Basic information is providded on the raising of African American troops, the Bureau of Colored Troops, contrabands, discrimination, the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and Abraham Lincoln. Additionally, the narrative offers an addresses the issues of race, soldiering, emancipation, nationalism, citizenship.   Overall, Soldiering For Freedom is clear, concise, cogent and accessible to students and general readers.