Northern Duty, Southern Heart George Proctor Kane’s Civil War

[Tom Bogar]

Just finished reading this fascinating book. I had encountered Kane’s name and Secessionist ideals tangentially while researching John T. Ford, but remained curious about his life and character. Greene satisfied my curiosity with a painstakingly researched chronology that is even-handed, not a hagiography (in a succinct Epilogue that summarizes the many roles Kane played during this life, the author concludes, “George Proctor Kane deserves our respect. We can honor the life of a flawed man for the parts of his life that were laudable, as we decry the philosophies underlying many of his actions.”) This is a thorough, detailed, clear work, with a great deal of background and context about Baltimore and its denizens, political and otherwise. Recommended.