{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL81D55B?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"B0BL81D55B","authors":["Sharon A. Roger Hepburn"],"book_id":"9780820363455","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780820363455","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780820363455.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","description":"The John Lovejoy Murray collection of letters contains insights into the experiences of an African American soldier and his regiment during the Civil War. John Lovejoy Murray, a private in Company E, 102nd USCT, died of disease in a Charleston hospital on April 12, 1865. Through John Murray’s letters, readers can experience the war through the eyes of a literate northern Black soldier. His is the story of the soldiers who did not receive accolades for their heroic actions in battle, the ones who spent more time on picket and fatigue duty than on the front lines, the ones who died from disease more than they did of battle-related wounds. Murray’s letters are significant because they are ordinary in some respects yet extraordinary in others. Some of the activities and sentiments portrayed in the letters are hardly distinguishable from those described in letters written by White soldiers. In other ways, the letters represent a perspective distinctly from a Black soldier in the Union army. Although many of his experiences may have been typical, John Lovejoy Murray himself, a literate, freeborn, northern Black man, was atypical among Union Black soldiers. Read more","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780820363455","publication_date":"20230315","publisher":"University of Georgia Press","slug":"private-no-more","subtitle":"The Civil War Letters of John Lovejoy Murray, 102nd United States Colored Infantry","title":"Private No More"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS036050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil War Era","score":0.7524,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027250","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil Wars","score":0.6991,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036040","confidence_band":"low","label":"19th-Century America","score":0.6923,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS036050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil War Era","score":0.7524,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027250","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil Wars","score":0.6991,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036040","confidence_band":"low","label":"19th-Century America","score":0.6923,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS036040","confidence_band":"high","label":"19th-Century America","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036050","confidence_band":"high","label":"Civil War Era","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS056000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Black History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC001000","confidence_band":"high","label":"African American Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Civil War Era","score":0.7524,"slug":"civil-war-era"},{"label":"Civil Wars","score":0.6991,"slug":"civil-wars"},{"label":"19th-Century America","score":0.6923,"slug":"19th-century-america"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Civil War Era","Good for readers interested in african","Good for readers who enjoy Civil War Era and Civil Wars."],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-his027250-military-civil-wars-see-also-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877","title":"Military Civil Wars ( See Also United States Civil War (1850 1877 Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-his027250-military-civil-wars-see-also-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-his036050-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877","title":"United States Civil War (1850 1877) Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-his036050-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-his036040-united-states-19th-century","title":"United States 19th Century Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-his036040-united-states-19th-century"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Amy Murrell Taylor"],"book_id":"9780807861868","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780807861868.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":19.8161,"title":"The Divided Family in Civil War America","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780807861868"},{"authors":["George Templeton Strong","Geoff Wisner"],"book_id":"9781598538250","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781598538250.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.5049,"title":"George Templeton Strong: Civil War Diaries (LOA #396)","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781598538250"},{"authors":["S. 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Gwynne","Robert Petkoff","Simon & Schuster Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9781501116230","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781501116230.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.4198,"title":"Hymns of the Republic","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781501116230"},{"authors":["Michael Vorenberg"],"book_id":"9781524733179","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781524733179.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.4181,"title":"Lincoln's Peace","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781524733179"},{"authors":["Scott Ellsworth"],"book_id":"9780593475614","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593475614.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.3567,"title":"Midnight on the Potomac","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593475614"},{"authors":["Cokie Roberts"],"book_id":"9780062002761","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062002761.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.3537,"title":"Capital Dames","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062002761"},{"authors":["Fergus M. Bordewich","Landon Woodson","Random House Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780593310823","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593310823.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.0428,"title":"Klan War","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593310823"},{"authors":["Brian McGinty"],"book_id":"9781631493010","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781631493010.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":16.8629,"title":"The Rest I Will Kill","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781631493010"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:african american soldiers"],"label":"African","score":0.1109,"slug":"african"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:19th century literate northern blacks"],"label":"Century","score":0.083,"slug":"century"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:civil war correspondence"],"label":"Civil","score":0.069,"slug":"civil"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: African, Century, Civil.","Reading lane: Civil War Era and Civil Wars.","Publisher: University of Georgia Press."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":0,"goodreads_ratings_count":1,"goodreads_reviews_count":1,"quality_score":0.8135}}