Scraps from the prison table, at Camp Chase and Johnson's Island

By Joe Barbiere

Behind the wire, the war does not end. It simply changes shape. Hunger, cold, waiting, and hope. Scraps from the prison table, at Camp Chase and Johnson's Island is Joe Barbiere's stark record of captivity in Union hands, an intimate civil war captivity diary that keeps its focus on the daily negotiations of survival: food, health, morale, comradeship, rumours, discipline. He notes the small economies of scraps and favours, the sting of boredom, and the thin line between routine and collapse in a crowded stockade day after day. As an unabridged prison memoir edition, it stands as a primary source history collection for civil war history readers who want the texture of prisoner of war life, and for researchers tracing confederate pow experiences and union prison camp conditions at the Camp Chase Ohio prison and on Johnsons Island, Ohio. Barbiere writes from within the system, capturing how policy, weather, and chance shaped bodies and spirits as surely as battles did. Its value is also comparative: set beside Andersonville prison narratives and Libby prison memoirs, this account widens the map of suffering and endurance, reminding us that captivity was a continent of its own, north as well as south. For an academic military history study, it offers testimony that complements official reports; for collectors, it preserves a rare voice in the record. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9353705428
• ISBN13: 9789353705428
• Release Date: May 2019
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"