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Keller’s Civil War book debuts tomorrow

Civil War Book Cover
The cover of Keller’s book, ‘Life During Wartime.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Since January 2, 2011, veteran Columbia Daily Tribune reporter Rudi Keller has written daily articles about what happened throughout Missouri during that calendar date 150 years ago.

Keller has written the articles in the present tense, letting the reader feel what it was like to live during those chaotic times. “Life During Wartime,” is the book, and it is not your typical Civil War writing.

“It brings the readers into it in a way that makes them feel like they were living it themselves,” Keller told The Missouri Times earlier this year.

Keller described himself as an “avid history buff” — not a Civil War buff — in a January interview. The idea to write the book came to Keller shortly after the 2010 elections. As he considered his next project, another election came to mind.

“I was thinking about what to write, sitting around idly, when I thought to myself that there was another really important election 150 years ago,” Keller said. “I wondered how many votes Abraham Lincoln got in Boone County, so I looked it up, and that kind of got me started.”

Keller’s book focuses on central Missouri, specifically  on Boone County and the eight surrounding counties. Keller’s interest peaked when he found Lincoln’s vote total in Boone. It was 12 out of more than 2,000 votes. Keller said the second highest vote getter was a “radical” secessionist.

“I started wondering what was available and possible, and I found that there is a lot of Missouri-specific material available online,” Keller said. “And there is a lot of individual records. There are service records of individual soldiers, which makes it much easier to do this kind of work than in the past.”

Keller’s book also includes essays written on more broad issues during the war. In one, he interviews a preacher from Glasgow, Mo., who is the grandson of a slave. Keller said he used the interview with the preacher to tell the progress from slavery to freedom.

“It makes people aware that these generations are not so far away,” Keller said. “It’s not five or six or seven generations ago. There are people alive today who are only two generations removed from slavery and those stories are part of our heritage.”

The first volume of the book covers the entirety of 1861, all of which was published during the 2011 calendar year, when the series began. Along with material featured in the Tribune, the book includes exclusive illustrations and photographs, as well as updated information on the subjects of the work.

Keller said he would begin working the next volumes as soon as it became clear there would be demand for them. Copies can be ordered either by using the order form in the Tribune or by calling (573)-815-1600 or (800)-333-6799.

Those who purchased the book during the early subscription period can pick up their copies on beginning on Thursday at the Tribune offices at 101 N. Fourth Street., Columbia. Keller will also be signing books at the Tribune offices from 2-5p.m. Friday, and he will be at Cooper’s Oak Winery at 327 Main street in Boonville from 1-5p.m. on Sunday, May 12.

The book will be available at a discount price of $34.95 at the events. Regular price will be $39.95 before tax.