I need a good book on the civil war for a civil war buff. Any help?

Question

I'm trying to but a book about the civil war for a civil war buff. It would be great if I could find one that is new within the last year.

Answer 1

1)“Shiloh” by Shelby Foote (Without Question)
2)“Co. Aytch” by Sam Watkins
3)“Shiloh: Battle That Decided the Civil War” by Larry Daniels
4)“Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Three Republics” by Charles Roland
5)“Shiloh, Bloody April” by Wiley Sword
6)"Shiloh 1862: The Death of Innocence" by James Arnold
7)“Seeing the Elephant" Raw Recruits at the Battle of Shiloh” by Joseph Allan Frank and George A. Reaves
8)"Shiloh: In Hell Before Night" by James Lee McDonough's
9)"Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream by Lerone Bennett (A MUST READ)
10) "Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove (fiction)

God Bless You and Our Southron People.

Answer 2

Here's an offbeat choice for a Civil War buff.

Harry Turtledove has written an entire series of books based on what would have happened had a Confederate dispatch rider not lost Lee's orders at the Battle of Antietem. As a result, in the series, the Confederacy wins the Civil War and becomes a separate country.

Somehow or another he manages to keep things interesting over the next nine volumes. The dialog is trite at times, the writing is a bit hackneyed every once in a while, but it's still a fun read for people who enjoy "What if?" kinds of books.

Again, a different kind of choice.

Answer 3

I say that "Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer" was one of the best nonfiction books I have read in a long time.

The author uses the closure of the Civil War as a backdrop to the detailed accounts of so many people directly involved with the assassination of Lincoln and the ensuing drama of the manhunt.

The author completed VERY thorough research for the book and it is evident in every page.

I recommend this book to anyone, so I think it would be great for a Civil War buff.

Answer 4

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. Mcpherson
Look Away!: A History of the Confederate States of America by William C. Davis
Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command by Douglas Southall Freeman
The South Was Right! by James Ronald Kennedy and Walter Donald Kennedy

Answer 5

Wow. All the recommendations given by folks above are good ones...very good ones.

I would add Carl Sandburg's "Abraham Lincoln-the Prarie Years and the War Years", best found on alibris. My view, it is comprehensive and definitive Lincoln. Not published within the last year, it was published over 130 years ago, by a great writer who interviewed people who knew Lincoln.

One difficult aspect of your quest is that you described your friend as a "buff." If so, your friend may have several of the already recommended books. Best to find out from another source (a 'spy'?!?) which books the friend might already have.

Answer 6

Eyewitness to the Civil War
by Steve Hyslop

Amazon:

Book Description
At once an informed overview for general-interest readers and a superb resource for serious buffs, this extraordinary, gloriously illustrated volume is sure to become one of the fundamental books in any Civil War library. Its features include a dramatic narrative packed with eyewitness accounts and hundreds of rare photographs, artifacts, and period illustrations. Evocative sidebars, detailed maps, and timelines add to the reference-ready quality of the text.

From John Brown's raid to Reconstruction, Eyewitness to the Civil War presents a clear, comprehensive discussion that addresses every military, political, and social aspect of this crucial period. In-depth descriptions of campaigns and battles in all theaters of war are accompanied by a thorough evaluation of the nonmilitary elements of the struggle between North and South. In their own words, commanders and common soldiers in both armies tell of life on the battlefield and behind the lines, while letters from wives, mothers, and sisters provide a portrait of the home front. More than 375 historical photographs, portraits, and artifacts—many never before published—evoke the era's flavor; and detailed maps of terrain and troop movements make it easy to follow the strategies and tactics of Union and Confederate generals as they fought through four harsh years of war. Photoessays on topics ranging from the everyday lives of soldiers to the dramatic escapades of the cavalry lend a breathtaking you-are-there feeling, and an inclusive appendix adds even more detail to what is already a magnificently meticulous history.

Answer 7

I really enjoyed Manhunt: The 12 Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson. The Civil war is such an enormous event that I think it is best studied in small bits and bites. This book covers the subject of Lincoln's Assassination is detail as it pertains to the reasons that Booth did what he did and why other Southerners aided and abetted him.

Answer 8

If you want one that is about more than just the war itself, I have a very good reference book entitled "The Confederacy: The All-in-One Guide to the Confederacy", prepared by Simon & Schuster McMillan in 1993, with Introductory material, margin features, glossary and index added by Simon & Schuster in 1998. I know it's not within the time frame you asked for, but I got it only last year and have been so impressed by it that I just had to tell you about it. The book "Red Badge of Courage" is a fictional classic written by Stephen Crane. It's a great story that I read decades ago, but it is FICTION. God Bless you.

Answer 9

'The Killer Angels", by Michael Shaara
'Gids and Generals', by Jeff Shaara
'The Last Full Measure', by Jeff Shaara
'The Civil War: A Narrative (volumes 1, 2 &3), by Shelby Foote
'The March', by E.L. Doctorow
and an excellent historical fiction series by Owen Parry. 'Faded Coat of Blue' is the first in the series.

Answer 10

The Iron Brigade
History of The Grand Army of the Republic
The 24th Michigan
Gettysburg