Edited by C. Brewster Coulter and Bert Webber, The Pig War and Other Experiences of William Peck, Soldier 1858-1862 presents the remarkable personal journal of a U.S. Army engineer stationed in the Pacific Northwest during a tense geopolitical standoff. The book chronicles Private William A. Peck's daily life, military duties, and keen observations surrounding the infamous 1859 San Juan Island boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain. Through these rare primary documents, the text captures the stark isolation, raw camp conditions, and quiet diplomacy that characterized an uneasy international borderlands garrison. A keen insight drawn from the work is how military journals humanize imperial brinkmanship; by filtering an international crisis through the mundane daily chores and reflective musings of an ordinary soldier, the narrative reveals that historical flashpoints are often lived not as grand historical dramas, but as tedious, freezing waits in remote wilderness outposts.

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