Priceless documentation of a maritime tragedy
Given the number of lives lost in a largely-forgotten Civil War incident, Gene E. Salecker's "Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion," should command a large audience. A tremendous research project, the book documents like no other account details that comprise a treasure of information of vital interest to historians in general, Civil War buffs, genealogists, and descendants of the ill-fated soldiers who died and those lucky enough to get home in April, l865. Personal stories and official documents give a thorough history of the doomed steamboat, its veterans, civilian passengers and crew in a tragic maritime accident that was overshadowed by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
