Transcribed by Anne Ball Ryals, Edited by Carlyn E. Kahl and Andrew Hillhouse, State House Press, $24.95

They called each other "Loving." Throughout the Civil War, Dr. Augustus V. Ball wrote many letters to his wife, Argent, describing camp life, battles, medical conditions, aches, pains, and his loneliness for her. It's rare to read letters from a Confederate physician and even more rare from one who served in the Trans-Mississippi theater. This volume includes Ball's medicinal book, full of herbal recipes good for what ailed you in the 1860s. A descendant of the couple lovingly transcribed and annotated his book and wartime letters to his wife.