Maryland resident Timothy R. Snyder has penned Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War and brings to light the perilous “life” of the canal during the upheaval of the American Civil War for which it marked the border between North and South.

Boston, MA, Tuesday – September 13, 2011 — Blue Mustang Press ( http://www.BlueMustangPress.com ) is proud to publish Timothy R. Snyder’s new book Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War. Snyder’s lavishly illustrated book tells the story of a canal company’s struggle to operate a significant business enterprise in one of the nation’s major theaters of war: the actual border between the Union and the Confederacy.

Since the C&O Canal company was located on Maryland’s southern border with Virginia, it experienced much of the war firsthand. Due to the proximity of the canal to so many conflicts, large and small, the book includes a great deal of military history in great detail. The canal played a role in major battles, like Antietam and Gettysburg, and in smaller conflicts, such as Ball’s Bluff and Stonewall Jackson’s raids on Dam Number 5 (the dam was owned by the canal company).

Snyder’s work is a fascinating account of this transportation artery during a time of great military upheaval. Research for the book was conducted using primary sources, including the diaries and letters of soldiers, politicians and local residents; canal company records; and period newspapers.

For Snyder, born and raised in Williamsport, Maryland-the traditional mid-point of the Canal-this book is the culmination of over ten years of research and writing that began as the author’s M.A. thesis. Snyder notes that while there have been books and articles written on the railroads during the Civil War, until now very little has been written about the role played by canals. The Canal helped sustain the Union war effort, much like its old rival, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, although its contributions have largely been overlooked by historians until now.

Ted Alexander, Chief Historian at Antietam National Battlefield, has said of Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War, “The C&O Canal was a major artery for shipping coal to the east during the Civil War era. This made it a target of every major Confederate incursion north of the Potomac and of numerous smaller guerilla raids. Tim Snyder’s Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal during the Civil War is the definitive work on the subject by its leading authority. This book should be required reading for all students of the Civil War in the Eastern Theater.”

The book is available through retail book outlets, NPS bookstores along the Canal, and through the publisher’s website at: http://www.BlueMustangPress.com.

ISBN: 978-1935199120
364 pages
Retail Price: $22.95
Available to the trade from major book distributors

Press & Media Contact:
Karen Savageau
Blue Mustang Press LLP
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