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FYI, Wikipedia:Notability_(books) states that one criterion for notability (only one is needed to achieve notability!) is:

• "The book has been the subject of two or more non-trivial published works appearing in sources that are independent of the book itself."

This book is the subject of more than two academic book reviews which analyze and explore the book in detail. Therefore, it is notable. WhisperToMe ( talk) 17:05, 31 December 2023 (UTC) reply

One reviewer is quoted as saying the book "sees through the Jefferson Davis myth." I wonder what that means. What is the myth? What perspective on Davis does the author have? Perhaps relatedly, the article quotes a review as saying that 18 pages are devoted to a conclusion, but does not summarize what that conclusion is. There is no suggestion how the book compares with others on the same subject other than to say it is referred to as "the best." As a result, the article seems to focus on the trivial (number of pages, percentage devoted to this or that) and the conclusory rather than on the substance. PDGPA ( talk) 21:33, 31 December 2023 (UTC) reply

@ PDGPA: To access the review, you can get to the Wikipedia Library. Log in, select JSTOR and look for the title of the book and the reviewer's last name (or log in, and then enter https://www-jstor-org.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/stable/4233083 into the URL bar). If there are any reviews you can't get at the Wikipedia Library, you're welcome to go to Wikipedia:RX and ask for those reviews.

Reading the paragraph (on page 110) in context, the author of the review states (in my paraphrasing) that it talks about the tropes of Jefferson Davis's personality but that it does not examine in detail why Jefferson Davis did what he did (Marotta states: "There is little psychological insight.").

Honestly I wish I had more time to really read these reviews and work in more analysis, but the idea here is to provide a start to the topic, in the nature of Wikipedia being a Wiki (establishing the foundation, and hoping others come along and add to it, and using the Wikipedia Library they can).

WhisperToMe ( talk) 22:27, 31 December 2023 (UTC) reply

For the 18 pages, Hattaway stated (I am putting this verbatim): "[...]and eighteen are used for an impressive posthumous summation." (page 1178). Hattaway does not speak further about the conclusion in that paragraph: he's trying to explain what portions of the book are devoted to which aspects of Jefferson Davis's biography. (BTW Marotta does explain a conclusion on why Davis failed, see page 109 "The author concludes that[...]")

As for David Herbert Donald's statement on the "best", this new York Times article has the full paragraph: "It is good news, then, that[...]". In that paragraph, Donald does give some reasons, like saying it is also the "fullest" biography and that it is a "a fresh look".

WhisperToMe ( talk) 22:42, 31 December 2023 (UTC) reply