2024: List of Books Indexed
Happy New Year! For the first post of 2025, I am providing a chronological listing of all the books I indexed over the course of 2024.
Published Indexes
Happy New Year! Here, I’m providing a chronological, annotated listing of all the books I indexed over the course of 2024.
Published Indexes
From the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, the “Selected Works of Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., USMC: Nineteenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff”
This book is a collection of selected speeches, statements, and letters by the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., who was nominated to serve from October 1, 2015, through September 30, 2019. Readers will find a brief biography, along with his service record with a listing of promotions, assignments, and decorations. The selected works are presented in chronological order, starting in 2015; they include transcripts of interviews and question-and-answer sessions, magazine articles, and addresses given at graduation ceremonies, conferences, and other military and civilian groups. The selected works cover topics such as the challenges and requirements faced by the Joint Force, global integration, force management, strategic framework planning, partnerships and coalitions, cyber issues, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the defense budget and impacts of sequestration, and US warfighting capability. Through his own words on current events, the book provides insights into military decision-making and issues that were important throughout General Dunford’s tenure.
“Struggle for Alliance: Russia and Iran in the Era of War in Ukraine” edited by Abdolrasool Divsallar. Published by I.B. Tauris.
This anthology provides an extensive and thorough look at the various aspects of Iran-Russia relations that have been impacted by the war in Ukraine, and speculates about potential impacts of three possible outcomes to the war. While keeping the Ukraine War in mind, the book chapters discuss broad, regional and global factors that not only influence Iran-Russia relations, but which are influenced by Iranian and Russian policies toward each other, such as trade relations with the Persian Gulf states and participation or endorsement of United Nations efforts. The book is divided into four main sections with a total of 10 chapters. Part One focuses on domestic politics and policies, analyzing Russian foreign policy towards Iran, Iranian news media coverage of the Ukraine War, and the role of shared identities between the two countries’ Muslim populations. Part Two shifts to systemic constraints and policymaking, including regional policy priorities, strategic stability, and Russian nuclear policy towards Iran. Part Three looks at Iran-Russia economic competition and cooperation, providing data on trade, market shares, and energy consumption and production; it also analyzes their alignment against the Western-led, unipolar world order that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union, and how the Ukrainian War has impacted Iran-Russia collaboration in the Syrian War. Lastly, Section Four considers the strategic rationale for an Iran-Russia authoritarian alliance, and the future of Iran-Russia cooperation in light of various drivers and challenges.
“Militiamen, Rangers, and Redcoats: The Military in Georgia, 1754-1776,” (2nd edition) by James M. Johnson. Published by West Point Press.
This project was a first for me: I was contacted to update the page references of the index for the publication of the second edition. The deadline was tight, and complete re-indexing of the book was unrealistic, but as it turned out, the index required more editing than was initially anticipated. After discussing the new task before me with the client, I was able to go beyond simply updating the page references (“locators”) and update the structure and wording of the index, as well.
I kept the original index essentially intact as I updated the locators, re-worded the entries, and consolidated subheadings so they might be more easily scannable.
By using concise wording for some entries and expanding and providing context for others, I worked to make the index more intuitive for readers and more valuable as a reference tool. To that end, I also added cross references where they were lacking. My goal was to make the index not just accurate with the updated page references, but to ensure that it adheres to current indexing good practices and standards.
“Above and Beyond: The Mason Family and the Transformation of Gwinnett County,” by Catherine Lewis. Published by Mercer University Press.
The book tells the story of the growth and development of Gwinnett County, Georgia, highlighting the Mason family’s role in the area’s growth and transformation during the 20th century. Part history of Gwinnett County, part biography of Wayne Mason, the book presents the reader with an overview of the county since its founding; it details the post-World War II population boom, the urbanization of rural Gwinnett and its ties with nearby Atlanta, the role of adequate water resources and sewage infrastructure, and transportation — from stagecoaches to railways, and highways. It also gives insights into Wayne Mason, his life, his philosophy, his family — and relationship with his brother Jimmy who was his partner in many public service and development efforts.
“Mississippi’s Black Cotton,” by John Obee & MacArthur Cotton. Published by University of Georgia Press.
MacArthur (Mac) Cotton recounts the story of his family and growing up in segregated Mississippi. From his family’s longstanding dedication to civil and constitutional rights of all people, especially regarding the right to vote, to his role in the 1960’s civil rights movement. He describes his first direct action effort in high school, to desegregate a lunch counter in Jackson, through his experience at Tougaloo College where he became involved in the NAACP and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Mr. Cotton’s readers get first-hand insights into what it was like to be a part of the library sit-ins, Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate bus travel, marches, and voter registration efforts both in urban areas and more rural parts of Mississippi — including plantations. He describes his time at the brutal Parchman Prison, from which he was released just in time to attend the famous March on Washington. He tells of his involvement and that of other key players in SNCC’s civil rights efforts, SNCC’s inner workings and dialogues, and events including the Mississippi Summer Project (“Freedom Summer”), Hattiesburg Freedom Day, and the creation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. He also writes about his own personal struggles and the toll that his involvement in the civil rights movement took on him, his experiences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and returning home to Mississippi, and then eventually opening his own construction business while building a family and maintaining civil rights efforts.
“An Annotated Autobiography of Henry O. Flipper: West Point’s First Black Graduate,” edited by LTC Rory McGovern and Dr. Tony McGowan. Published by West Point Press.
In this republication of a memoir by the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, the modern editors provide a thorough introduction and afterword that give historical context to Henry Flipper’s account of his life and time at West Point. The book also includes the author’s original text and footnotes, plus footnotes by the modern editors that give a running commentary of points discussed in the original book along with some suggestions for further reading. In the Introduction to the autobiography, the editors give a brief history of Flipper’s family and his life leading up to his appointment to West Point; they discuss Reconstruction era society and politics which set the stage for the events discussed in Flipper’s text. Then, throughout the autobiography, readers follow Cadet Henry Flipper through his application, acceptance, and arrival to West Point; he narrates his experiences as he reported in on his first day as a “plebe” (first-year cadet) through studies, summer encampments, furlough, the graduation ceremony, and his commissioning as an Army Lieutenant. Flipper provides many personal insights into his treatment and the culture at West Point, which he supplements with contemporary newspaper clippings. In the Afterword, the editors discuss Henry Flipper’s life after receiving his U.S. Army commission, and his legacy at West Point and in the Army.
Here are the Substack and the Blog posts listing all the books I indexed in 2022; & the Substack and Blog posts listing all the books I indexed in 2023.
Indexes Available on My Website
There are four indexes available for free on my website, as an example of my work. Three are to previously published books, and the fourth link is to the full text of the e-book on General Martin E. Dempsey.