WILKINSON, (Arthur) Warren (Jr.) 1945-

PERSONAL: Born February 13, 1945, in Fitchburg, MA; son of Arthur Warren (a sales engineer) and Katherine Esther (a homemaker; maiden name, Keating) Wilkinson; married Barbara Boardman, December 23, 1967 (divorced, 1970); children: Arthur Warren III, Jan Elaine Garrett. Education: Attended University of Bridgeport and Keene State College. Politics: Republican. Religion: Episcopalian. Hobbies and other interests: Civil War enthusiast.

ADDRESSES: Agent—William Morris Co., 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Honeywell Inc., Peterboro, NH, assistant engineer, 1967-70; self-employed general contractor, New Hampshire and Texas, 1970-80; U.S. Merchant Marines, Louisiana and Texas, mate, 1980-83; Connecticut Valley Arms Inc., Norcross, GA, operations manager, 1983-85; writer, 1985—. National Park Service volunteer, Andersonville National Historical Site; performer in Civil War reenactments.

MEMBER: North-South Skirmish Association, Fitchburg Historical Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Mother, May You Never See the Sights I Have Seen: The Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac, 1864-1865 was selected as a History-Book-of-the-Month by History Book Club Review.

WRITINGS:

Mother, May You Never See the Sights I Have Seen: The Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac, 1864-1865, Harper (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Steven E. Woodworth) A Scythe of Fire: The Civil War Story of the Eighth Georgia Infantry Regiment, Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Civil War Times Illustrated.

SIDELIGHTS: Warren Wilkinson is a writer who has won praise for his publications about the Civil War. In his first book, Mother, May You Never See the Sights I Have Seen: The Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac, 1864-1865, Wilkinson relates the activities of the Union regiment that included his great-great-grandfather. He researched the regiment by examining a range of sources, including diaries, military records, and written correspondence. Joseph T. Glatthaar, writing in the Washington Post Book World, declared that Mother, May You Never See the Sights I Have Seen "will delight and impress buffs and scholars alike."

Wilkinson followed Mother, May You Never See the Sights I Have Seen with A Scythe of Fire: The Civil War Story of the Eighth Georgia Infantry Regiment, wherein he chronicles the Confederate regiment that fought in some of the war's key battles, including conflicts at Gettysburg and Appomattox. In preparing the book, Wilkinson—in collaboration with Steven E. Woodworth—again turned to sources such as diaries and written correspondence. Booklist reviewer Jay Freeman hailed A Scythe of Fire as "a gritty and gripping account of men at war," and Library Journal critic Robert Flatley noted the book's "vivid battle descriptions." In Kirkus Reviews, meanwhile, a critic summarized A Scythe of Fire as "a superior example of unit history" and added that it "provides an almost inexhaustible treasure trove for history buffs." Another enthusiast, Dave Larson, wrote at the 8th Georgia Infantry Home Page that A Scythe of Fire "is an excellent book" and a "unique and exciting account of one of the most well-known Confederate regiments."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2002, Jay Freeman, review of A Scythe of Fire: The Civil War Story of the Eighth Georgia Infantry Regiment, p. 989.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2001, review of A Scythe of Fire.

Library Journal, January, 2002, Robert Flatley, review of A Scythe of Fire, p. 126.

Washington Post Book World, May 20, 1990, Joseph T. Glatthaar, review of Mother, May You Never See the Sights I Have Seen: The Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac, 1864-1865.

ONLINE

8th Georgia Infantry Web site,http://home.earthlink.net/ (July 17, 2002), Dave Larson, review of A Scythe of Fire.*