|
Recent praise for books by Michael
Aubrecht
Historic
Churches of Fredericksburg: Houses of the Holy
IF
THESE WALLS COULD TALK
By James M. Schmidt
The Civil War News - "Medical Department" - May
2009
"At an early hour Dr. Cutter called
on fourteen men…to go with him to the city, to
establish hospitals there…in a short time we had
four ready for occupancy, we were then ordered to
clear the Baptist church…the armies had met and the
wounded were rapidly brought in…Then in the outer
rooms of the church the surgeons began to cut and
slash…" - Diary of John Bailey, Ninth New
Hampshire
In
his recent book, Historic Churches of
Fredericksburg: Houses of the Holy (The History
Press, 2008, 128 pp., $19.99), Michael Aubrecht
provides a look at disunion, war, and
reconstruction (literally and figuratively) as
experienced by Secessionists, Unionists, and
African Americans in Fredericksburg, Virginia's
landmark churches during the Civil War era.
READ ON
HERE
Michael Aubrecht has articulated his thorough
research and interviews into a very accurate but
interesting and vivid account of our City churches
"under heavy bombardment" both from Union artillery
on Stafford Heights and sectional differences which
polarized around the slavery issue. The fact that
abolition split local congregations at that time is
penned in his "Houses of the Holy" in a
non-accusatory and unemotional style yet his words
are vehicles of the intensity of feelings prevalent
during the upheaval preceding the War, during the
War and even into the divisions of congregations in
the mid-20th Century--in the case of my own
church.
Mr.
Aubrecht has researched, chosen and exhaustively
painted a picture through his credited photographs
of the suffering and devastation the City underwent
in December 1862. The aftermath and the slow
emergence through the rebuilding of the modern City
churches, nicely documented with excerpts from
period personal writings as well as church records,
tells the story--so prolifically treated and
repetitiously published heretofore--in a new and
fresh manner from a perspective long neglected by
historians.
Flawlessly researched, illustrated
and written, this book will serve as the source for
years to come to the scholar, the student, the buff
and the tourist alike. The reader will think
Michael Aubrecht walked these streets during the
War!!!
Godspeed on your next book,
Michael. As a retired English and Latin teacher
with 44 years experience and a lifelong Christian,
I am so impressed with your book! It is unique and
such a joy to read semantically. The subject itself
is not a joyous one, however. Your approach made
the War realistic and yet devoid of the usual
"emotion" that accompanies this close scrutiny of
ONE city in ONE period in history--a much
overworked period! Your book escapes that
"overworked" aspect completely!
Becky Guy, Church Historian,
Fredericksburg United Methodist Church
My initial impression is that it is
generally balanced, well researched, and readable.
It appears you have done a credible job with it.
Dennis Sacrey, Church
Administrator, Fredericksburg Baptist
Church
I was pleased to receive a copy of
your Historic Churches of Fredericksburg...I'm
nearly finished reading the book, and I have found
it to be both informative and inspirational. Your
writing style is very enjoyable for me.
Incorporating personal letters makes the stories
come to life, and you have provided a vivid picture
of living in Fredericksburg during the war years.
It's hard to imagine what those people went through
- both soldiers and citizens - during that time in
our history...
Bill Ackerknecht, Santa Cruz,
CA
I just finished reading your book
Historic Churches of Fredericksburg. First off, I’m
so impressed. Take this from someone who is
anything but a scholar when it comes to history and
grammar, but I found it very professionally
written, researched, and presented. From my
perspective as someone who really knew NOTHING
about Fredericksburg, its history, or the position
it played in the Civil War, I found the book very
informative. It was cool to get the perspective of
the times almost through the ‘eyes’ of the churches
themselves. It’s a perfect place for the euphemism
“If these walls could talk.” I always knew that the
Civil War was a brutal time in our nation’s
history, but until you get to really dig into the
actual stories, you just don’t get the whole
picture of the atrocities that occurred. You’ve
done a great job of bringing that to light.
Chris Jamison, Pittsburgh,
PA
Historic Churches of Fredericksburg
by Michael Aubrecht is an interesting and
informative book. The author does an excellent job
of combining first hand accounts and factual
information thereby creating a fascinating history
of the "Houses of the Holy." The many Civil War
and contemporary photographs, along with the
recollections of Fredericksburg citizens and
clergy, make this truly a wonderful read.
Jane Conner, Educator, Author and
Historian (Stafford, VA)
The
Southern Cross: A Civil War Devotional
Michael, I am now 3/4 of the way
through TSC and enjoying it very much. Some of
those stories will play really well in future
sermons! I was familiar with several of the
stories, but they're so good it was nice to be
reminded of them again. And then you pulled in many
less familiar ones as well. The Whitman quote
really hit me; for some reason, it just never
dawned on me that the injured could lie there for
days, not just overnight. The Lee quote about
feeling responsible for his students was so
inspiring, as Lee always is. With my son going to
Notre Dame, it was fun to read about one of the
school's early presidents; never made that
connection before. I LOVED the nurse's quote you
came up with: "I have never worked so hard in all
my life and I would rather do that than anything
else in the world." The Confederate Prayer is
amazing, and before your book, I never made the
connection that Stonewall's bravery was tied so
closely to his belief in providence. Lots of great
stuff there.
Gary Thomas,
Best-Selling Christian author (Seattle,
WA)
Dear Mr. Aubrecht,
My
name is Stephen and I just returned from a a tour
of duty overseas. I am a specialist who helped
maintain CH-53Ds in Iraq. You may know these birds
as super stallions but I affectionately called them
dirt devils as they were always blowing
sand.
I
am a practicing Methodist who attends Grace
Methodist church and I am emailing with
appreciation for the devotional that you penned on
the Civil War. Each week we would get a crate of
books from the states and the Southern Cross was
one of the paperbacks that caught my eye. I
recognized the monument from Gettysburg on the
cover.
I
think the good Lord may have pointed it out to me
because I had no intentions of even taking a book.
I was pissed off and missing home all the time and
was not going to services for a while. Our
divisional chaplain tried to get me to join a men's
study group, but I didn't have the energy to go.
Then I started reading the Southern Cross.
Your book moved me and was a very
enjoyable read. I used it with my bible to keep up
my devotions in between shifts. I worked the night
shift mostly but managed to attend some group
meetings. I told them about your book and the
chaplain said he knew your name from the Tun Tavern
fellowship at Quantico. What a small world we live
in.
I
liked your choice of scripture and found comfort in
reading about Gen. Lee and all the other believers
that were dealing with war just as we are. You seem
to have a favorite in Stonewall Jackson and he is
very popular among my fellow Christians. I imagine
he is huge in Virginia.
I
just wanted you to know that I read your book cover
to cover in a week and then passed it on to a
friend of mine over there. I think that it will
probably be circulating for many months to come. I
thought you would be proud of that.
Godspeed.
S.J. Ivino
USMC
Our family uses 'The Southern Cross' as a daily
devotional after our regular Bible reading. We are
captivated by the lives of these great men of God
as it is a perfect example of their great
character. Each section covers a different trait:
courage, duty, faith, honor and mercy. Simply put,
this book is a great faith builder. It is a
wonderful companion for the 'two edged sword', the
Word of God. These men could face death with
boldness and we look forward to meeting them one
day. 'Press On', Michael Aubrecht, and thank you
for this work.
Rick and Kathleen Warren (Salem,
VA)
More to come
| 
